


Dark Lullaby

by unleashthewords, zombierose3, ZombieWithANoose



Category: Drop Dead Fred (1991)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Awkward Family Moments, Best Friends, But we really love reviews, Don't you wanna read to understand a few of these tags?, Dreams, Elizabeth Cronin - Freeform, F/M, Family Issues, Fate, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Fred's a mama's boy, FredxLizzie, Friends to Lovers, HEA, Happily Ever After, Humor, I hope you're appreciating these tags, Imaginary Friend, Incubi, Loss of Virginity, Love, Love Confessions, Love and Lust, Lust, Magic, Meant To Be, Meet the Family, Phoebe Cates, Porn With Plot, Rik Mayall - Freeform, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Self-Acceptance, Sex, Sex Magic, Shea Day, Siblings, Soul Bond, Soul Sex, Soulmates, Succubi & Incubi, Succubus, Supernatural - Freeform, The Ginger Demon!, True Love, We have plot!, We love cake, We love putting Fred through the ringer!, We love reviews, What Have I Done, black sheep, drop dead fred - Freeform, fast burn, incubus, succubi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 03:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 55,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13825407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unleashthewords/pseuds/unleashthewords, https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombierose3/pseuds/zombierose3, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZombieWithANoose/pseuds/ZombieWithANoose
Summary: Fred returns to Lizzie on Halloween night, but he has a secret, two if you count who, or rather what he really is...FredxLizzie.(Doing something that’s never been done before in the DDF fandom.) - Written by zombierose3 and unleashthewords for DirtyAim.





	1. Trick or Treat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DirtyAim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirtyAim/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors’ Notes:
> 
> zombierose3: Dedicated to and written for DirtyAim (aka, Queen Smut Smut), and if this story should kill her in the throes of joy, then let us also dedicate this to her memory and bow our heads.
> 
> unleashthewords: For Miss DirtyAim, I hope you enjoy my efforts to make this the best smutty novel I could write with zombierose3. You’re welcome. ;)
> 
> **Disclaimers: We don’t own Drop Dead Fred, the Twilight Zone, A Christmas Carol, Full House, or Uncle Jesse, and have no connection or relation to Michael Biehn, but we love his work. Also, we’re not making a single profit from this work. (Unless laughter counts, or DirtyAim’s soul, then we are rich.)

 

**Chapter One**

_Trick or Treat_

(Six months after the movie…)

* * *

“Maybe I really am crazy.” Lizzie sighed as she stepped through the door to her apartment. She didn’t understand how she had let her mother ruin Halloween again. Really, she had only gone over there to get a few more of her things for her new place, but perhaps that had been her first mistake. Going there on Halloween was the equivalent of walking into a venomous snake pit and expecting to walk out with a gift basket and a smile. Lizzie hadn’t even made it upstairs before her mother had hooked her into her annual row with the neighbors. Ironically, Lizzie only had herself to blame for that tradition.

_Or Drop Dead Fred._

She’d been six-years-old that Halloween. Together she and Fred had sprinted around the block, spreading rumors that her mother was a witch. An evil witch who couldn’t find the right broom to sweep away her cobwebs. Looking back, Lizzie couldn’t believe he’d made her tell the whole street and she blushed now that she understood his innuendo.

For a long time they had most of the neighborhood children believing Lizzie was the sole survivor of eight siblings because her mother had eaten the rest. The joke had returned every year, creating the Halloween tradition of pranking the wicked witch of Hill Street before she ate anyone else.

“Thank god she never found out it was me,” she said, flicking on the kitchen light. Lizzie smiled. Some part of her wanted to scold herself for enjoying the legacy left by her and Fred, but she couldn’t deny her satisfaction either. She loved any reminders of him, unfortunately most things he left in his wake came back to bite her.

All night she’d ran interference to keep Polly from calling the police on three boys. ‘ _Yes, Mother, they’re awful. I’m sorry this keeps happening,’_ she’d repeated, doing all she could to placate her, but more and more Lizzie had rooted for the children. It’s what had gotten her through.

She’d wiped rotten egg off the front porch and windows and taken the brunt of her mother’s ravings about the slew of toilet paper hanging from her ‘very handsome tree’ in the front yard. Polly believed it to be the staple of the street. There had been no telling her that the tree was just a tree and in no way the historic landmark of Hill Street that Polly thought it was. Polly had scoffed and told Lizzie she was no different than her father, and explained how that tree uplifted a drab neighborhood from the shambles that was the street behind them. She might have gone on about Mrs. Fowler thanking her once for the upkeep on the tree, but Lizzie had tuned out after a time. She was almost glad when the third prank happened and the lawn gnomes emerged.

All of them had encircled the sacred tree, facing outward with poorly hand drawn renditions of Polly’s likeness sporting a devil’s goatee. Her mother had snapped and shrieked like a lunatic for the children to show themselves. Unfortunately, Lizzie had snorted within earshot and as Polly had whipped around she’d slipped on a pile of wet dog poo. Laughter had filled the air and Polly had marched off in horror, set to call the boys’ parents as she barked at Lizzie to clean up everything before the sight devalued her home.

Lizzie didn’t tell her mother, but she had quietly placed one of the gnomes in her car as a memento and fled the scene. She had never been so glad to be home in her life.

Setting her keys on the kitchen counter, Lizzie headed into the bedroom and stopped before the full-length mirror. “So much for this costume,” she said, plucking at the black and purple witch costume she’d picked out for Janie’s party. “Maybe next year-”

An urgent rap on the front door made her jump.

“Who could that be?” she asked, checking her watch. It was past ten o’clock, too late for any trick or treaters. _Maybe they’ll just go away_ , she thought. All she wanted to do at this point was get out of her costume and into a bath, but the knock sounded again. “Of course. It’s my Halloween karma… Alright, I’m coming,” she grumbled, hurrying to the door and opening it.

Finding no one, Lizzie’s eyebrows went up with curious frustration.

“Okaaaay,” she said, peering out into the hall.

Empty.

“Guess, I must be hearing things…” she muttered, stepping back inside. Her mind wanted to supply spookier explanations, but as she had just moved into the first place she had ever lived alone, she did not want to indulge them.

Closing the door, Lizzie barely turned around when another abrupt knock sounded on the other side. Her heart leapt, those explanations rearing up with renewed force, filling her mind with images of some berserk madman here to murder her. Another, even louder knock made her jump.

“Look, whoever this is, you’ve got the wrong place!” she shouted, laying a hand over her heart. The knocking only grew louder and, losing her patience, Lizzie peeked through the keyhole to find that no one was there, even as she felt the door shake from another knock.

Recoiling, she yelped and hugged herself. “Look, this isn’t funny anymore!” she shouted, but the pounding continued, taking on the tune of “Shave and a Haircut.” Lizzie locked the door and felt the color leave her face. This didn’t make any sense. She had just heard the knock. Whoever it was would have had no time to run out of sight...

“This is really starting to freak me out…” she whispered. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she leaned closer to the door. “I’m calling the cops, so you better just leave and get your kicks somewhere else!”

Inside, a man’s voice cried out from behind her with a very familiar accent.

“Leave? Don’t you know how this works? I’m here for treats, not kicks, and I’m losing my bloody patience. Try again!” Another knock beat the door in front of her.

Lizzie shrieked and clapped her hands over her ears. Spinning around, she found no one behind her and the raps persisted on the door. “You- What? I, I hate your guts!” _Oh my god_ , she thought. _He’s back! He’s back and he’s everywhere!_

“Flattery’s not a treat! How long does it take to get some service ‘round here?” He kicked the door. “Come on! Trick or treat!”

“I’ll give you a treat! A punch to your face!” Lizzie yelled at the door. Her heart still pounded, wildly.

“Geez, what’re you supposed to be tonight? A mega, megawitch?”

Lizzie glared at the door. “If I am a mega, megawitch it’s your fault! Who the hell bangs on people’s doors and then pops up behind them and scares them half to death?! Go haunt someone else!”

“Nuh uh!” he said, the nasal tone making him sound all the more obnoxious. “Come and make me, or else I don’t go until you’ve given me my treats. I’ve come all this way for it and if you don’t do it soon I’m gonna have to pull a trick, and believe me, I’ve got plenty of those!” He kicked the door three times. “So, knock, knock. Trick or treat!”

Lizzie growled. She was tired and Fred’s sudden, unexplained appearance and obnoxious attitude was not improving her mood. Lizzie stared at the door, debating on whether to open it or not. She knew he excelled at waiting people out until they couldn’t take it anymore and she wasn’t in the mood for any more of his tricks. Finally, reason won out. She unlocked the door, turned the knob, and let it swing open. “Happy?” she asked, wearily.

Standing there, covered in a white sheet with poorly cut and crooked eye holes, Fred nodded. “That’s more like it.” He cleared his throat before letting out a long, “WoooOOOoooo!” His hands waved from beneath the sheet in uncoordinated circles. “Now… give up the goods. Trick or ruddy treat,” he said, holding out a green pillowcase.

Lizzie was unmoved. She reached for the bowl of candy she kept by the door, grabbed a handful, and half-heartedly threw it at Fred. “Happy Halloween.” Lizzie slammed the door. “Now go home!”

“Hey!” Fred shouted. “You’re really taking the whole spirit outta this trick or treatin’ game, ya know, Snotface.”

Lizzie had walked away from the door, but paused to respond. “Oh? No one calls me Snotface except my _former_ imaginary best friend and HE LEFT ME FOREVER!” Her fists clenched and her whole body shook.

Outside, Fred’s jaw dropped. _Oh, so it’s gonna be like this, is it?_ he thought.

In flash of green, Fred magicked into the apartment behind Lizzie and snatched the witch’s hat off her head. “Left you forever, did he? Well, looks like he’s come back to haunt you!” Fred whapped her on the head with the hat, making her flinch. “Boo!” He laughed.

Lizzie brushed the hair out of her eyes and turned to face him. _Of course he’s dressed like a ghost. My own Ghost of Christmas Past, or Halloween Present._ “Why are you back?” she asked.

Fred stuck out his tongue, but got a mouthful of fabric and started spitting to get rid of the taste. Lizzie sighed and he dissolved the sheet using his magic.

“Ugh, there, that’s better,” he said, tossing the witch’s hat across the room and smiling at Lizzie. His heart skipped. Without the sheet in his eyes, he finally saw how stunning she looked.

Her hair had grown out to her shoulders and her eyes were as dark and beautiful as ever. No one had eyes like hers; he swore they were magic because he couldn’t forget them- he couldn’t forget her. Her dress hung to her mid-thighs and its dark colors seemed to make her pale skin glow. As an adult, Fred had never seen her in anything that revealed her legs so much and he couldn’t help memorizing them and everything else about her in this moment. Leaving her had been the biggest mistake of his life.

 _I missed you so much, Snotface. I never should’ve left you_ , he thought, the ache in his chest that had persisted for months worsened by their closeness. _God, I hope I’m not making a mistake in this…_ His hands felt clammy and trembled after the thought.

“Um, why am I back?” he repeated, stalling for time. Everything he’d planned to tell Lizzie had unraveled from one look at her. _Great start, this is._ Fred slouched, shoving his hands into the pockets of his green and yellow suit. “Because,” he said, offering a sheepish smile.

Lizzie stared. “Because? You stormed back into my life, turned it upside down… helped me get rid of Charles, and just left. Now you’re back… because?!” Lizzie’s voice rose an octave at the last word and Fred frowned.

“Do you really wanna know?” he whispered, stepping closer.

Her brow furrowed. She hadn’t expected this kind of response, just another obnoxious retort. It worried her. “Are you going to give me an honest answer?” Lizzie twisted her fingers together, fidgeting because she didn’t think she was ready for his answer. “Why now?”

He studied her, tilting his head. _Why the hell isn’t she happier to see me? This isn’t at all like I pictured._ Fred’s heart sank. Since she’d grown up, he had a lot of trouble understanding her in times like this. _Didn’t nearly piss her off so much when she was short. Knew she didn’t wanna see me as I did her…_ His eyebrows went up and he shrugged. “Well, I can’t very well trick or treat any other time of the year, Snotface.”

“Of course! How stupid of me! You must have gotten a day pass to trick or treat and haunt your old friend.” Anger and hurt warred within her- and anger was easier to express. “I’m so glad you could show up _again unannounced!”_ Lizzie paced before she started throwing things. “So what now? You going to leave again and maybe show up when it’s convenient for you? And play your stupid games?” Her hurt threatened to spill over as tears, but she bit her lip, willing herself not to cry.

“Hey, that’s really not fair! And my games aren’t stupid! You use to love my games,” said Fred, fighting the sting of her words. “And I’ve come back, haven’t I? So why can’t you just BE HAPPY about it?” he asked, trying to follow her steps. Like old times, the sight of seeing his Snotface upset made him crazy to console her, unfortunately he didn’t always know how to do that. The worry in his gut sent his heart racing. Where the hell had he gone wrong in all this? Why wasn’t she happy to see him?

“Fair? Happy? Let’s talk about fair! You came back into my life! You sunk Janie’s boat, you caused your usual havoc, and yes, you helped me boot Charles out of my life, and I thought everything was finally going to be okay, and then you left. You ki-” Lizzie checked herself and took a deep breath.

“You said goodbye and then you left. I’ve learned to live without you again, and then you show up. And how do you show up? Scaring the crap outta me, and I’m supposed to be happy? You have a different definition then, because I don’t understand why you’d choose to announce that you’re back in this way. Were you just wanting a laugh at my expense? Is this an elaborate and stupid joke? Could you have come back at any time?” Lizzie looked at him, sad and dismayed. She didn’t want to hear that he could have come back whenever he wanted, but chose not to.

“Lizzie-” Fred’s voice cracked, betraying him with emotion and he stared at his feet. “I was only trying to make you laugh by dressing up…” He fidgeted with his hands. He really hadn’t known he’d hurt her this much and it tore him up. Sure, he’d known she’d wanted him to stay, but so had every charge he’d said goodbye to, of course they had all been children. If only he’d realized this time had been different because showing up out of nowhere had just made everything worse. Apparently he wasn’t just lousy at goodbyes, but hellos, too. Did he even stand a chance to fix this? To explain? Would she even want to hear the real reason he’d come back? Fred’s hope twisted into anguish. It seemed he never expressed things right anymore whenever he tried making her happy.

“I… I really did have to leave, Snotface,” he said at last, “and honest, I didn’t think I _could_ come back.”

Lizzie’s anger ebbed, leaving her tired again. “But you’re here. If you couldn’t come back how are you here now?” Desperation wavered her voice.

“Because…” Fred took a deep breath and finally looked her in the eyes. “I only got one more chance and I could only use it on Halloween.” _Well, that’s a big lie_ , he thought, feeling like such a coward, but if she knew why he’d had to leave, then he really stood no chance.

Lizzie shook her head. Another typical, strange conversation with Fred that didn’t make any sense. She sat down on the couch. “What do you mean one more chance? For what?”

Fred sat beside her, struck by the memory of the last time they’d sat like this together. That had been in a very different apartment, though, with not a drop of Lizzie found in any of the rooms. She’d confessed how much she’d loved Charles to him that day and he’d never felt so sick. Looking around at her place now, Fred found it hard to believe it had only been six months since she’d left the bastard. Everything here screamed Lizzie down to the pattern on the sofa. Artwork, purple drapes, shelves full of books, and… Fred stared. His jack-in-the-box sat on the mantle beside an empty vase.

_Maybe she missed me more than I thought?_

Hope fluttered inside him and he folded his hands together. _Here goes, I guess…_ he thought. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know, Snotface.”

“Well, you were never into sharing things about yourself,” Lizzie said. “I suppose it didn’t matter when I was little and then after… when you came back it never came up.” Lizzie turned and studied her manic friend, realizing he was a mystery to her. “What don’t I know? Are you married with seven imaginary kids?”

Fred laughed. “The universe can rest safe for another night knowing I’ve never spawned,” he said, relaxing at the welcomed show of Lizzie’s humor. “But… you know I’m not just imaginary, don’t you? Cuz if not, the rest of this is _really_ gonna be hard to take.”

“I never thought about it. I guessed imaginary meant imaginary, but I never thought what that actually meant... Are you saying that you’re real? I don’t understand. I think I’m getting a headache.” Lizzie rubbed her temples.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Fred swallowed, his pulse quickening. “I am very real. Just not so much in _this_ world,” he said. His nerves bit at him. How the hell was he gonna explain the rest without terrifying her?

“This world,” she echoed. “What do you mean this world? Is there more than one world?” Lizzie flopped back on the couch, covering her eyes with one hand. “I don’t suppose you want to pop over to the bathroom and get me an Aspirin?”

Fred winced. _Great. Only just told her I’m real and already I’ve split her head_ , he thought, blinking away for the medicine cabinet. He returned, Aspirin and glass of water in hand. “Might wanna swallow this before I answer any further. Trust me, it gets weirder,” he said, smiling at her for reassurance.

“Thanks,” she mumbled as she took the Aspirin, tossed it in her mouth, and took a big sip from the glass. “I hope this kicks in soon. Okay. Hit me with this other world stuff.” She took another drink and Fred grimaced.

She would either accept this, or beat him. _Or possibly I’ll finally push her into an institution..._

“There’s lots of worlds, Snotface. You just don’t see them. They all run mixed up with yours. Sorta like alternate dimensions. Mostly they’re all separated, despite the closeness, but… some of us get access to doorways into the others. That’s how you see me now. How you saw me before.” Fred wrung his hands together.

Lizzie wrinkled her nose as she tried to process this. “So, not other planets… They’re other worlds somewhere else? All around us? This sounds like the Twilight Zone. So, you come from one of these other worlds?” Lizzie stared at Fred, beginning to see him as a person, but wondering if he was something else entirely.

“Yeah, I, I come from one of them, but I like your world a lot,” he said, smiling at her. He hoped that hearing this wasn’t too weird for her. He knew Lizzie could take a lot, but now he wasn’t so sure. Everything depended on how well he handled this conversation. “You alright?”

“I- So, you’re real, but you’re not… human?” She felt more confused than worried. Not being human seemed the least strange thing about Fred, after all it could explain a lot.

“Erm, yeah I’m real, and no. I’m not human, Snotface. I wish I was...” he said, looking away from her. Fred repositioned himself on the couch, not because he wanted to, but because the topic suddenly had him feeling fidgety.

 _Fred isn’t human?_ Lizzie sat up straight. What did that make him? _This conversation’s getting stranger by the second._ “What world are you from?” she asked.

“I’m from… a much darker world than yours. Um, we call it Lullabi.”

“What does that mean? What are you exactly? Why is your world darker?” Strange thoughts flooded her brain. She pictured dark shadows and snarling creatures. “Lullabi. Is that like dreams?”

An overly high-pitched and nervous laugh erupted from Fred and he leapt from the sofa. Lizzie blinked. _I didn’t think it was possible, but he’s even weirder than normal._ His characteristic energy took hold and he paced the floor, but Lizzie noticed he seemed agitated, not his usual manic self.

“It’s… I don’t know, I didn’t make it!” he said. “It’s just darker in the things they do there… I guess, um…” _I’m so stupid to bring any of this up. She’s gonna hate me if I tell her. I’ll be a monster in her eyes. She’s already scared enough of me as it is while not knowing what I am!_

Tapping his fingertips together, Fred quickly added, “Yes, it’s got some things to do with dreams. Certain kinds, that is…” Fred didn’t realize how hard he breathed and he stopped in front of Lizzie. _God, she’s so beautiful._ He wanted to remember the sight of her brown eyes looking at him this way before she found out the truth. _And this is probably my last chance…_

“Who is they?” She sighed, deeply. “Fred, this is going on for too long. Just tell me. Who are you?”

 _Here it comes_ , he thought. _She’ll never want me near her again._ However, he knew he had to tell her, no matter how futile his attempt. He couldn’t keep everything to himself any longer, not after what he’d realized. Not when he didn’t have the strength to run from it anymore. His heart couldn’t take another day without her.

Reclaiming his seat beside Lizzie, Fred took her hand, but she almost didn’t register the action. It was an unusual gesture from him, but his demeanor is what caught her focus. He seemed so worried...

“I come from somewhere where it’s always night,” he said. “There’s a word you humans have for us, but I don’t like it because it’s always so synonymous with evil and, Snotface, I don’t want you to think that’s what I am, because I’m not evil. I promise.” He stared into her eyes, so focused on not cocking up his words that the worry inside him reflected into his gaze. “Lullabi’s a mix of names. Combination of lullaby and… succubi and incubi… because of what it deals in… I’m… I’m an incubus, Snotface. A really bad one who got demoted to being an imaginary friend, but still an incubus.”

Lizzie didn’t know how to take Fred’s secret. She registered evil, succubi, and incubi, but they seemed like foreign words, so she did the only thing she could.

She laughed.

“That’s ridiculous! That’s fairy tale, folklore stuff. How could you be some weird…” She waved her hand as if she could grab the word she wanted from the air. “What are they supposed to be? Demons? Demons that suck souls, or something? How could you be that and then be an imaginary friend? You’re not evil, you’re just weird.”

Fred didn’t laugh. He fought against disappearing into the night with hopes of saving some shred of his dignity and the memories he had of Lizzie. “I told you I didn’t like that word, Snotface,” he said, a hurtful pout on his face. “But alright fine, yes, we’re demons, but it’s not like the definition you know. I told you I’m not some monster, and I certainly never sucked anyone’s soul!” Fred drew back his hand and ran it over his face in frustration. “Let’s start again. Do you even know what an incubus is?”

“I don’t know! They don’t teach that in school or church! Explain it. I’d probably be wrong anyway.” Lizzie struggled not to laugh at this new side of Fred. Indignant Fred was new.

A full on blush went over his face as he realized what topic he’d just steered them toward. _Oh fucking hell._ “Uh…” His cheeks puffed out as he exhaled and Lizzie’s eyes widened.

His blush shocked her. Fred never got embarrassed; he always embarrassed her. Lizzie leaned closer, curious to hear more.

“I’m… Incubi are spirits, or using your word, _demons_.” Fred made a face as he said it just to emphasize the bad taste it left in his mouth. “They feed off, well, not souls. Really it’s- They feed off-”

 _This is like pulling teeth,_ Lizzie thought. She wanted to shake Fred and make him spill whatever he wanted to tell her.

Gripping the couch cushion, Fred closed his eyes so that he could say this with a straight face. “They feed off sexual desires. Incubi are men, like me, and, uh… are supposed to feed off women, and, and succubi are the opposite.” Fred opened his eyes, squinting at her. At least she hadn’t ran off screaming yet...

Lizzie started. “What did you say? Incubi feed off sexual desires? How does that even work? How can you be that and an imaginary friend?” She had so many questions. “Are you joking about this?”

Fred took another deep breath and grabbed both sides of Lizzie’s face to keep her eyes steady on him. He needed her to believe him, but even more he needed to see that she wasn’t afraid. “Snotface, you’ve seen how I get about sex, why would I pretend to suddenly be something that is meant to survive off the essence of it?” His heart pounded and his mouth went dry. _Please don’t run._

Lizzie just stared into his blue eyes as they focused on her so desperately. She had never noticed they were so bright. “Okay… I…” She pushed his hands from her face and sat back, taking a better look at him. “I don’t understand any of it, but okay, you’re a de- ...incubus. So, is this really you? Or are you some kind of spirit?” Lizzie looked at him, doubtful. “Can you change into something else?”

Fred frowned. “Why? Do you want me to be something else?” he asked before catching himself.

“Oh. Well, if you can change, could you be Uncle Jesse from Full House?” she asked, failing to suppress a grin.

“What?!” he cried, hopping up. “What do you think I am? Some kind of on demand avatar?!” Fred’s fists clenched, but inside his heart felt like it had been run through.

Lizzie laughed. “I was kidding! Don’t get bent out of shape.” She shook her head. Fred was full of surprises.

An unintelligible squeak erupted from Fred and he threw his hands over his face. “Ugh, Snotface!” _I swear to god I wanna die right now…_ She’d gotten him good.

“Can you, though?” She stifled the rest of her giggles. “I mean, can you just change your appearance completely?”

Fred dropped his hands and looked at her. “Of course I can change, and this is my real form, although I do have others… but they’re more incorporeal for dreams, whatever the dreamer desires is what I’d become… I’m a spirit, but this is my face.” He smiled.

His answer made Lizzie queasy as something else occurred to her. If Fred was some kind of demon who fed off sex, did he do certain things?

“So, do you have sex with women as an incubus?” Lizzie asked before thinking better of it.

Fred cringed, but the mention of sex with women from Lizzie’s mouth left him with several conflicting emotions. He couldn’t help but feel that part of his nature stir up with lust for her and he whined, trying to force it back. “Why you asking all these questions, Snotface?”

Lizzie smiled, enjoying a familiar reaction. Fred wasn’t a fan of feelings or things of a human nature unless it involved farts or burps. She felt a little better, feeling like it was regular, old Fred and not a weird demon-version of him.

“I- See, having sex is the part I wasn’t good at-” Fred choked at his poor word choice, eyes widening. “But only because I’ve never done it!” He flushed, the heat unbearable. _Oh god, this just keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?_ “I’m a virgin, actually, because I didn't want the incubi lifestyle. That’s why I got demoted. I just couldn’t go through with it. Not that I didn’t find scraps in roundabout ways to survive. Um…” Lizzie’s mouth fell open and Fred’s lips practically burned to kiss her. He missed those lips.

 _Ah, fuck. I should’ve known talking about this would do this to me_ , he thought, struggling to keep on task and explain himself. Six months away hadn’t improved his tricks to suppress his nature at all.

“Virgin?” Lizzie’s eyebrows rose.

“Yeah. So, if you’ve ever wondered why I’m a bit off, it’s because I’ve not been properly fed!” He laughed, hoping a joke would make this less unbearable.

“Fred, how can you be the only sex demon with an aversion to sex?” she asked. It seemed surreal, and yet very Fred. “I can’t believe there’s a man alive who wouldn’t go through with sex.”

“Yeah, my kind tells me the same thing, Snotface. Apparently I’m the embarrassing anomaly.” Fred rolled his eyes. “I just wanna be more than an incubus.”

“It just seems biologically impossible.” She shook her head. “But what do you mean by scraps and feeding? You need to explain that. You don’t drink blood, do you?” Lizzie felt queasy again.

“No, I don’t drink blood! I’m not a leech!” he cried, sinking back on the sofa and crossing his arms.

“Sorry,” Lizzie said, sheepishly. She hadn’t meant to offend him. “Everything’s just so… new to me.”

“I- Alright, you wanna know the truth?” he asked, looking in her eyes. “I don’t like to talk about it because I don’t like want happens to me when I indulge in it. I’ve always been afraid of taking too much energy and hurting someone… I… I couldn’t live with myself if I did that. So, that’s why I’ve never actually done it, and by scraps I just sorta feed off sexual desires from grown ups while not engaging in it with them. I like being around children because it sorta suppresses all the urges. Makes me feel closer to human.”

Fred’s confession had Lizzie both worried and morbidly curious. She wanted to ask more, but she didn’t want to offend him further. “Well, you look human and you act human. Mostly.” She gave him a small smile. “So, then you kinda live like a human, but… you feed off sexual desires and only if you have to? You can’t not feed?”

Fred couldn’t help but smile for the fact his Snotface saw him as mostly human. He took it as a compliment and it warmed his heart, however, he worried newer information would affect that perception as he continued.

“No, I have to take in something, Snotface. It’s necessary for me to function, I could die otherwise, or go completely mad, but, um… so now you know what I really am.” He smiled, but it lacked its usual bravado.

“Oh. I guess if you’re something other than human then the rules are different? So, then feeding off sexual desires is a necessity. I guess if you have to do it… there isn’t any choice.” Fred nodded slowly and she took a moment to think this over. To do this because he had to to survive put a different spin on it.

“Yeah… Still wanna be my friend knowing what an inner perv I really am?” he asked, smirking.

Lizzie looked at him. Watching him act so casual, pretending what he did was no big deal, made her think of him as regular, imaginary Drop Dead Fred. “I think I’ve seen your inner perv. I recall you sliding on the floor, looking up a certain woman’s dress and yelling that she had no panties.” Lizzie rolled her eyes at this memory. She remembered the woman, but didn’t want to talk about her further or mention her by name. Thinking back, she recalled Fred had ogled other women as well. At the time it had made her think perhaps he was a red-blooded male after all, despite his childish antics. Apparently she’d been right.

She smiled. “So, if that’s the worst of your perv then I think I can live with it.” Lizzie laughed and Fred couldn’t help but join her.

“Trust me, a couple of those were a mistake!” Relief washed over him. Lizzie was a lot more open than he had expected. Their bond continued to surprise him.

While he had helped her fix her life, he didn’t know how much that help outweighed the times he’d been an outright bastard and made things exponentially worse. He could blame nothing but his nature for that, as fear and violence were another temptation for an incubi, but that didn’t mean he was proud of it deep down. Honestly he felt lucky Lizzie still liked him at all, and while she accepted him perv and all, he felt a bit embarrassed for the fact he had peeked beneath all those dresses right in front of her. He really did try not to do things like that, especially when someone else could see him, but sometimes his urges got the best of him. With Lizzie being an adult it had oddly mixed with a desire to make her laugh, and he couldn’t deny he’d pretended those skirts had been hers.

“Fred?” Lizzie asked, growing quiet. “You mentioned being afraid… Do you… do you hurt people when you feed off them?”

Her question threw him and he frowned. “Um… not in the little amounts I do, no, but sometimes I’ve heard stories of actual contact, in either form, erm… Yes, but normally it just leaves mortals a bit worn out afterwards,” he said. He didn’t want to tell her any more than that. Then she might really be afraid of his nature. She hadn’t ran yet, he worried the limit was close. “But otherwise it’s supposed to be extremely pleasurable for both parties… Addicting, even.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t really what she wanted to hear. “I hope it doesn’t really hurt. I mean, hurt other people when you… feed. Is it like when people have sex? Because people are sore afterwards… sometimes. I heard.” She blushed. _This is so awkward._ “I, um, how is it addicting?”

“Uh.” Fred turned his gaze straight ahead at the wall. _God, Snotface..._ “No, you- Humans would end up tired from the feeding, but, um… I suppose soreness would be… possible,” Fred mumbled, clearing his throat.

“Soreness?” She realized the implications and blushed. “I, I see.”

“And it’s, uh, addicting because of how good it feels… Not that I would know, mind you, but from what I’ve been taught, it’s different from normal human, ugh, you know, stamping and pecking.” He made a face, but kept his eyes straight ahead, worried what he might feel or do if he explained this while looking at Lizzie’s face.

“It’s more than just physical with us… It’s that, and spiritual. Magic goes into every speck of your being and turns everything into an erogenous zone. Everything gets connected. Bodies. Souls. It builds, and feeds off the energies. It’s consuming, really.” Fred squeezed his fingers, his jaw clenching ever-so-slightly. “That’s why it’s hard to stop.”

“Oh,” she stammered, dumbstruck. She had never experienced sex like that before; she hadn’t even known it existed. Usually it had involved Charles moaning and praising himself until he finished. It never mattered whether she’d been satisfied, too. Lizzie had given up on the idea that sex could ever be a good experience for her, but Fred made it sound like it could be very different. She wondered what it would be like to experience it with every ounce of her body and soul, and to ache from so much sex.

Her mind flashed to those trashy novels she had read once on a whim during a trip. Those characters had experienced so much pleasure, and in great detail. Thoughts of ‘hardness’ and ‘thrusting’ and ‘sweaty bodies’ started to stir things in her and Lizzie flushed. She had to think of something else.

“So, addicting... People enjoy it so much they just want more? Like over and over? What does that do to a person?” she asked.

Fred felt the change in the air around Lizzie. The energy thickened with a sweeter scent that sent a pulse through his being. The sensation buzzed in his mind and body and his heart hammered to keep up. Lizzie’s energy tempted and tortured him like an oasis appearing before a parched man in the desert and made him gasp. _Where the bloody hell did that come from? Did I bring that out?_

Hopping from the couch, Fred paced, trying to expel the building temptation to let his essence reach out for a taste of her. He ran his hands through his hair, rubbed his hands together, and kept a steady gaze on the floor. Why did it feel like she called to him?

“Well, um, too much can… can drain a life force or make a mortal insane, but that’s worst cases. The stories your world has of us are true, but they’re old. We’re really very different now. Really, we’re meant to be sorta like sex fairies, or muses. By the way, never call me a fairy,” he said, shooting her a look. “We inspire, or bring fantasies to life, help the lonely, etcetera… but some of us just can’t control our urges and it can end up in a bad place. So, really in most cases it just feels really good...” Fred looked down in shame. _This is it. She’s gonna tell me to get out now._ The thought at least killed his desires threatening to spill out and ruin his remaining friendship with Lizzie.

“Death by sex?” She gaped.

“You’d actually be surprised how many people want to go that way…” Fred laughed, but it died away into awkward silence.

“I-” Lizzie tried processing his answer. “I suppose there are worse ways to go...” she said. Fred looked so awkward she felt embarrassed for him. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. This is just so strange. I can see how fantasies could help in a way. Sometimes people are missing some romance and that release of sexual tension.” Sadly, Lizzie knew from personal experience, and thoughts of those romance novels returned, but she pushed them aside. _Now’s definitely not the time to fantasize, Lizzie._

“Yeah. Helpful,” he murmured. Unfortunately, her bringing up the words ‘release’ and ‘sexual tension’ brought Fred’s awkwardness to new heights. His mind flashed with bestowing those very things on her, and shoving the urges down felt like digesting barbed wire.

“You have always wanted to help people,” Lizzie added. “I can’t be mad at you for that. I look at you and see Drop Dead Fred, my friend, and I can’t believe that you’re supposed to be some kind of monster.”

Fred’s eyes lit up with his smile, tensions and pacing instantly forgotten. She didn’t hate him, or want him to leave? His heart skipped several beats. “Thanks, Snotface… It means a lot, really. So… does that mean you’re not afraid of me? Now that you know what I really am?”

“I honestly can’t pretend to understand this incubus thing, but you’ve been my friend for a long time and you’ve always been there for me. I don’t know how I could be afraid of you.” Lizzie smiled back. “It’s just strange to think of you as being a de- A person who feeds off sex. Just don’t try feeding off me. Not that me feeling anything for anyone would ever be an issue.” She scowled, as did Fred.

He wished she’d lose her compulsion to call him a demon. He hated that word, and it took all he had to bite his tongue and force a smile. “I’ve never tried feeding off ya, Snotface. You’re off limits far as I’m concerned. I’d never do that without permissi- Oh, you know what I mean.”

Lizzie blinked. She had been joking, but hearing him say that seemed so strange. She hoped he had never been there for sex with Charles, and her cheeks flamed at the thought. _Oh my God. That’d be so embarrassing! I don’t think I could look him in the face. He probably thinks I’m bad in bed._ She almost groaned out loud and fought the urge to run and hide under her bed.

“I eat elsewhere. Promise.” Fred picked his nose and dabbed her cheek. _There. Now maybe I can stop thinking about all those times I wanted to kiss her, or make her entirely mine since she had to go and grow up._ The expression on her face from the snot made him laugh. She looked stunned.

Lizzie wiped her cheek. It was weird to think of Fred as an adult who had a problem with sex and had to feed off sexual desires. For God’s sake, he still wiped boogers on her! While he had done it when she was little, doing it now seemed at odds with this new Fred. She thought about telling him, but figured snot was the least of their issues right now. His ‘eating elsewhere’ comment haunted her.

“So,” she said, pausing and looking at him. “Do you get to stay now? Can you come back anytime you want?”

“Yeah I, I can stay now... if I want to,” he said, quietly.

Lizzie sat up, but froze. His reaction wasn’t at all like she expected. Why didn’t he sound excited about this?

Beside her, Fred’s heart thundered, threatening to break his chest. He knew where this topic would lead them. Scooting back in his seat, Fred struggled to hold himself together. “Um, but I do have one small problem with it that needs discussed if I do stay, Snotface.”

“What do you mean there’s a problem?”

“I mean, there’s this one thing on my mind that worries me about coming back.” He knew this was his opening, his chance to find out where he stood with her, but he didn’t know if he could take it if this didn’t work out like he hoped. Another part of him worried it would turn out exactly like he hoped… “You remember at all the way we said goodbye?”

Her brow furrowed. “When we said goodbye? We were in a different place. It was like a dream. You… hugged me and said goodbye.” Lizzie fidgeted in her seat. _Why’s he asking about this now?_

Squirming, Fred found it hard to bite down his hurt and agitation. Had she really forgotten? Or was she avoiding this altogether? “We kissed, Lizzie. Or don’t you remember?”

Lizzie felt her cheeks warm from embarrassment. She hadn’t forgotten. She had replayed it over and over in her mind until she thought she might go insane. As time passed and Fred didn’t come back, she had tried to forget it. Every time she thought she had, it returned, unbidden and always as she lay in bed at night. She had picked that moment apart so many times. Was it just a goodbye kiss from one friend to another, or something more? It seemed her chance to find out had come.

“I- You, you kissed me goodbye!” she cried. “What was I supposed to take away from that?” Lizzie’s anger rekindled and she used it as shield from her embarrassment.

“I don’t know! Should I have left you with instructions?!” he cried, throwing his arms out. _What’s she getting all uppity for now?_ “Technically, I asked you to kiss me and you did, so there. You’re just as guilty as me, thank you!”

“Guilty of what? Saying goodbye to someone I care about? Of being left behind?”

 _Cared about?_ Fred grinned.

“Why don’t we try something different, then? Then you can have a real reason to yell at me!” Lizzie turned and left the living room, marching off for her bedroom.

_God, who does he think he is? ‘Remember when I kissed you and just left you with that memory to stew over?’ Yes, thank you so much. Now you want to chat about it and act like I jumped on you and planted one on you?_

“Oi! What’s gotten into you?” shouted Fred, utterly beside himself. _Who does she think she is leaving me here in the midst of a very important conversation like a fool after saying she cares about me? Who the bloody hell does that?!_

Boiling, Fred stomped after her, but Lizzie shoved open her bedroom door, hurried inside, and slammed it right in his face.

“OW!” he cried, grabbing his nose.

“Now he wants to ruin Halloween for me, too. I hope he comes back at Christmas and ruins that, too. He can set my tree on fire.” She fumed, not knowing what to do with herself. Kicking off her shoes, she started straightening her pillows to distract herself.

Outside, Fred rubbed his aching nose. _I’ve gotta stop letting that happen! She’s done that to me at least five times now!_ He kicked the door in frustration. “So we’re back to the way this night started, I see?” he shouted, but dropped his voice low, muttering to himself, “Brilliant idea this was. One moment she likes me, the next she tries to beat my face off.” He sighed and magicked himself into the room, appearing in a flash of green at the foot of the bed. “What’d ya leave me for? I was trying to talk to you.”

“Ugh!” she yelled. “Why do you have to do that? This is my room and my apartment! You can’t just pop in when you feel like it!” She threw a rolled up pair of socks at him. “Get out!”

Ducking her missile, Fred snatched up the stuffed bunny from her dresser and threw it at her head. The stuffed animal bounced off her noggin and rolled beneath the bed.

“I can go wherever I want to!” he cried. “So, no! I’m not goin’ anywhere and you can’t make me.” Fred blew her a loud raspberry, spit flying everywhere. “You wanted me to stay a moment ago, now you want me to leave? Are you out of your ruddy skull? Were you bit by a tick? Why did you leave me out there?”

“Because you’re an ass! What do you want from me? Do you just like popping in and out of my life when it’s convenient for you? You can come and go without any reason, and I’m supposed to be happy about it? Do you enjoy waltzing off to wherever it is you go? Do you go off and laugh?” Lizzie stood at her dresser, refusing to look at Fred. He could be so fun to talk to and then he could drive her to homicidal thoughts.

“What?!” Fred was so confused, he felt slapped. “No, of course not!” He struggled to sort through his frustration and anger, both at her and himself. _An ass? For protecting her?_ “Look, I left for a fucking good reason!” he cried, exasperated. “Ugh!” Fred kicked the bed and collapsed onto it, face in hands. “And no, I didn’t enjoy it! I hated not seeing you, Snotface, but you’ve no idea what I’ve been going through, and obviously don’t wanna see me long enough to hear about it! So fine! I’ll just waltz away, laughing my arse off just like you described! You really want me to go? Because if that’s what you really, really want, I’ll do it. And I won’t come back this time. You’ll get everything you want then. No _Fred_ to muck it all up for you and your perfect life.”

Lizzie blew out a frustrated breath. Part of her wanted to yell back and tell him to go, and part of her wanted to stop him and tell him to talk to her. She wondered if he meant it, if he’d really go for good this time. What would her life be like if she never saw him again?

Slowly, she slowly turned around, looking at his splayed out form on her bed. He hadn’t left. Maybe it was time to get the truth out of him.

“What do you want to tell me?” She sighed. “Can you just tell me without being cryptic, or talking in circles, or being dramatic?”

He laid there a moment in silence, letting his hands fall to his sides. Could he? Nervous tension gripped him at the thought of finally telling her his biggest secret, the real reason he’d left her. “If I do…” he said, turning his head on the bed so he could look at her, “will you at least still be my friend?”

Lizzie stared back at him. Was this a trap? She had no idea where this was going. “I’m still your friend, even though you manage to piss me off. Why would I not be your friend after this?”

Fred smiled. He felt very tired, despite the anxiety, like he rested on the ledge of a skyscraper with a ferocious wind threatening to push him to his doom. Despite it all, the assurance Lizzie still thought of him as her friend comforted him. He had to tell her now. She deserved it at least, especially now that he realized the pain he had caused her.

Sitting up, Fred scooted to the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry I left you when I did. It wasn’t because you didn’t need me. It-” He gulped, savoring the sweet scent of her perfume, the same perfume that had lingered on him for days after their goodbye, tormenting him. “It was actually because of what I started to feel… um, about you.” Fred winced and couldn’t keep looking at Lizzie. He felt too out of his comfort zone and sure all these feelings would make him explode into millions of green and yellow pieces. Truth was, he needed her too much and it terrified him.

“I have feelings for you, Lizzie…”

 _I love you, actually_ , he thought, feeling the depth of it grip and shake him. His heart only wanted her, and it was probably going to get him into trouble if he wasn’t careful.

“But because, because of what I am… it woke up my nature. I didn’t trust it and I thought if I left for a while it’d all go away, but it didn’t and it was the stupidest mistake I ever made…” He shook his head. “I care about you _so_ much, but I want to make one thing clear. I don’t feel this because of what I am, I feel it because of this,” he said, patting his chest. “The rest is just a bleedin’ hazard of being what I am.” Finally he let his gaze wander back up to her. “I left because I got scared I’d hurt you on accident, Lizzie.”

“I don’t understand. You’re my friend. You’ve been my friend for a long time and never said anything. So, now you’re telling me that you have feelings for me, but you never told me and just left?” Lizzie didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or cry. _When did this happen? How? Feelings? Fred has feelings for me?_ It didn’t sound like him at all, but apparently she hadn’t really known who or what Fred was.

Shaking, Lizzie placed her hand on the dresser for support. “You didn’t talk to me about it. You never even tried.” She looked at him, trying to see what she hadn’t before. “So, you kiss me and bail? That’s your answer? I don’t know what to say to you right now.” Lizzie really didn’t know; this was completely foreign to her.

“Kiss you and bail? Only because I was trying to protect you from me,” he said, standing up and taking her by the hands. “You hadn’t even left Charles, and then me, your best, and _imaginary_ , friend is suddenly supposed to stop and share that he’s an incubus and spew his feelings all over you? I’d be an idiot to think you shared then what I feel. I just wanted everything to go back to normal. I, I didn’t know I could even feel like this period.”

Squeezing her hands, Fred looked in her eyes with the most apologetic stare he could muster. He wished he could let her feel how terrible he did inside, but unfortunately that wasn’t one of his talents. “I was afraid of what I’d do, what I nearly did a couple times, actually… so, so I left, Snotface. For you. Because I care about you.” How could she believe he hadn’t tried? Anything he’d ever done around her had been for her.

Lizzie yanked her hands back. “So that makes it okay? You decide you’ll just spare me by not saying anything? Oh yes! Let’s not tell Lizzie anything! She’s too fragile! She’s not capable! Once again someone decides _for me_ what I should or shouldn’t know! If you cared about me you would treat me like someone you trusted!” She couldn’t believe what she had heard. He was as bad as her mother, and she almost said so, but stopped herself. It would piss him off and she wasn’t mad enough to hurt him intentionally, but the rest of his words caught up with her.

“Wait. What you _nearly_ did? You were going to do your succu- Incu- Whatever on me? So, I can’t know about your so-called feelings, but you can use me?” Lizzie fumed.

“Ugh!” he cried, stepping away and running his hands over his face. What had his stupid mouth done now? He’d said way more than he should have, but he just wanted to be honest with her.

_And what good has that done? Now I’ve kissed her and bailed, and apparently decided for her like everyone else! God, she might as well have called me Charles._

Fred felt sick, like his insides dropped into a black pit of knives. What else could he say at this point? Trying to explain everything had just hurt her more. He wanted to grab something and shake it; he wanted to scream; he wanted to reach into her head and plant everything he wanted to say in there because obviously his mouth was as helpful as a thorn in someone’s arse.

“Are you kidding? Use you? Lizzie, I’ve never touched you! Not once! Never even peeked! You’re my best friend and regardless of how I feel, I swear I’d never fucking do that! How the hell have I ever used you?! And there's nothing ‘so-called’ about the way I feel.” Fred growled and paced. His thoughts collided with each other and he didn't know what to say, but he couldn't leave it like this.

Spinning around at her, he said, “Look, I didn’t keep it from you to hurt you, or because I see you like some poor, pitiful broken doll. And it’s certainly got nothing to do with whether I trust you or not! Maybe I just didn't want you to know what I am.”

Lizzie stepped back. Part of her felt relieved that he had never done anything, but another part questioned if it were true. An even tinier part wondered what it would feel like if he had. “I just feel like you want me to believe you had great intentions and accept everything you’re telling me, but the fact is, you hid something huge from me.”

“Lizzie…” Fred’s heart wrenched with grief. What did he have to say to make her believe him? “Lizzie, I’m scared of what I am, okay? It’s never been an issue before you. I’ve always been able to handle it. To do little things to keep the urges satisfied enough to go on living the life I like, without touching _anyone_ , but…” He sighed, feeling his eyes burn with tears. “But once I started feeling what I did for you… that changed whenever I got near you. Didn’t you notice the periods I stayed away from you each day were longer compared to when you were a kid? My tricks just stopped working as great, and I’ve been searching everywhere for a replacement, but nothing exists! I care about you. Please. Can you try to understand?”

She shook her head. “That’s not an excuse! You left! I can’t understand your reasons because you’re talking about something that I know nothing about. You never tried to help me understand! I wouldn’t know if you were staying away then because of me or not! How can I even begin to grasp this?” She flung her arms out. “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand it. I just… I need time.”

 _Time?_ The word twisted inside him like a barb nestling into his heart. She wanted him gone? All for protecting her? For caring about her? For never fucking touching her when he felt like he might die without her? He wanted to throw the very bed through the wall. How could she ask him for time and not see how much he’d done for her? He was trying to tell her that he loved her and she threw it all back in his face without even listening! He didn’t understand her at all and it hurt so much he wanted to scream, but a strange calm washed over him as he looked at her. She’d just broken his heart.

“That’s… That’s fair, I suppose,” he said, taking a sharp breath. “I’ll go, if you want… um, but… the best explanation I can give you is… Well, you’ve seen me all manic? Imagine that, but instead of playfulness, it’s lust. Complete, uncontrollable lust. Maybe that’ll make you understand why I needed to leave. I wish I was human, Lizzie. I really do. Maybe then I could handle things better, say the right things, and we certainly wouldn’t be having this problem, would we? I… I really am sorry, Snotface. You do mean a lot to me. I never wanted to hurt you… or to leave.” Fred walked for the door, wiping his eyes once he’d past her so she wouldn’t see his tears.

Lizzie watched him, finding it strange to see him so… defeated was the closest she could put it. She had never seen him give up on anything. He looked almost broken and she felt awful, but what could she do? This was all so crazy. How was she supposed to accept her imaginary friend actually being a spirit that fed off lust? One with feelings for her, who’d nearly fed off her? It just sounded like a crazy dream, or a nightmare. While she recognized and understood the nonsense of knowing Drop Dead Fred, knowing this person, who looked like her friend but wasn’t, would take time.

“I’m sorry, Fred. I just need some time. You gave me a lot to think about. I need to sleep, and maybe tomorrow night we can talk?” She tried to smile, but it felt insincere. Fred stopped in the doorway.

“Alright, Snotface,” he said, turning back and doing his best to smile at her. “I’ll come back then.” Digging a bogey from his nose, he reached for her face, but she stepped back, turning her head away. Fred’s last hopes deflated.

“Goodnight, Fred,” she said. She couldn’t look at him.

“G’night… and Happy Halloween,” he whispered.

“Happy Halloween, Fred,” she murmured back, just wanting to be alone. Seconds later, she heard the familiar jingle of his magic. Lizzie caught the last flash of green before he vanished. She sighed. “Happy Halloween, Lizzie.”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she flopped backward and stared at the ceiling, trying to think of anything but what Fred had told her. “Incubus? Really?” she muttered. “And he can’t even talk about sex without squirming. He’s supposed to feed off lust.” She shook her head. “You won’t find any here. Who am I gonna lust after? Michael Biehn?” She sat back up.

“Just go to bed, Lizzie. Clearly you need sleep.” She removed her witch’s costume and frowned at it. “If only I had magic powers,” she said, tossing the dress in the corner and heading to her dresser. Grabbing an over-sized T-shirt, she pulled it on and removed her bra, flinging it to the floor. “If I had powers I would find a way to not have to wear a bra.” Lizzie went through her usual nighttime routine, checked her locks, and got into bed.

Lying in the dark, she stared at nothing, Fred’s confession returning to her. “That has to be the worst way to let someone know you like them. Leave it to Fred to make it completely out there.” Several minutes passed before her fatigue won out and she fell asleep.


	2. Go Big or Go Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors’ Notes:
> 
> unleashthewords: I apologize to Fred for putting him through the emotional and uh, sexual, wringer. It’s for his own good though. Thanks to zombierose3 for being the best co-author with an awesome sense of humor who gets me and tolerates my typos and can laugh with me about them. May you never run out of coco. Mwahahaha! To the readers: I look forward to your thoughts and comments. Enjoy. [On another note: If anyone is questioning Fred’s stamina, please remember in this story he is an incubus and he doesn’t tire.]
> 
> zombierose3: When you try to type “cock,” but put “coco” instead you never live it down, do you? Lol. Just give me some marshmallows, I guess. *ahem* Yeah, I look forward to everyone’s thoughts and comments, too. Thank you for those of you who followed, favorited, and left comments on chapter one! Enjoy your treat, dirtyaim! Or your coco? I don’t know anymore, but we tried to put sprinkles on top!
> 
> **Disclaimers: We don’t own Drop Dead Fred, or Slip ‘N Slide, and we’re not making a single profit from this work.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Go Big or Go Home_

* * *

 

“You have to go now,” said Fred.

Lizzie looked around, finding herself in a dark and twisted version of her old room. Drop Dead Fred watched her from across the room, his green suit just visible in the darkness. An uneasy feeling settled in Lizzie’s stomach, the familiarity of the scene rushing to her mind. Fred was about to tell her goodbye.

 _Why am I going over this again? Why’s it always this moment?_ She frowned.

“Why?” she asked. “Can’t I stay?”

“No. You have to go alone.”

Reliving those words didn’t hurt any less and it surprised her. “But I want you to come back with me,” she said, pushing aside her anxiety at his suggestion.

“Well, that’s just tough. You have to go alone.” Fred shook his head. “I can’t get back now.” He pursed his lips. “...Look, you’ve got you now. You don’t need me. Not anymore.”

 _Who’s he trying to convince?_ She studied him, trying to see what he didn’t say, but she found nothing. _You can’t get back now?_ She stared at his calm face and felt her anger rise, her dream mixing with the memories of last night. She knew his words were a lie because he’d come back to her and confessed that he’d been full of shit.

 _Why couldn’t you have just told me the truth right here? Why was it so hard?_ Her stomach knotted over the encroaching goodbye. _What would’ve happened if you’d just stayed?_ Lizzie fumed. _I can’t do this again._

“So… goodbye,” said Fred with a shrug and an unconvincing smile.

Slowly, he walked toward her, his gaze locked with hers as the room faded into darkness. Lizzie's heart pounded. They stood face to face, a ring of light surrounding them like they were all that existed.

“Just kiss me and say Drop Dead Fred.”

Lizzie stared up at him and clenched her fists.

“Now,” he added.

“I will do no such thing!”

Fred blinked. “What?”

“I’m not telling you goodbye!”

Fred gaped at her as though struck, confusion furrowing his brow. “Yes, you are! You have to say it. I’m trying to do what’s best for you.”

“No, I don’t!” She leaned closer, anger flashing in her eyes. “It’s not what’s best for me! It’s the worst thing you could do!”

“It is _not_! Look, I said I can’t get back. You’ve gotta go. Quit arguing with me. How ‘bout a wave, then? Can you manage that?” he asked.

Lizzie growled in frustration. “You’re full of it! You’re just running away! Admit it!”

“Running… away?” He stared at her, hesitation in his eyes, but it transformed into hurt. “Am not! I don’t run from anything. I’m Drop Dead Fred! At least I can say three little words.” He rolled his eyes.

“I can, too. You’re a liar!”

Fred’s jaw dropped. “A what?” He leaned back, shoving his hands in his pockets as silence fell between them. “Alright. You’re right,” he said, looking in her eyes. “But it’s better than the truth, so you better just get outta here, Snotface. Please. Just… just say it.”

Lizzie rocked back onto her heels. His admission stunned her. “Tell me the truth, Fred. I need to know.”

“Why? What difference does it make?” he asked, his expression pained.

Calmed, Lizzie looked into his eyes, searching for the answers she needed. “Please, it’s important to me. I need to hear this from you now.”

“Snotface…” He took a slow, deep breath, which shook as he exhaled. “It’s... The truth is it’s because I need you… and I’m scared.” Fred shifted, unable to look her in the eyes. “I care for you, and I shouldn’t, so I have to go away. I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Please just say it.”

Shocked, Lizzie stared at Fred, speechless. Letting out the breath she had been holding, she reached out and turned his face toward hers. When he finally looked into her eyes, she smiled at him. “Was that so hard?”

Fred gave her a sly smile. “Yes. I could’ve died, ya know! I could’ve turned into a girl and puked out all my eyeballs! It would’ve been terrible!” he cried, but his features softened. “You’re stubborn. You know that? And you’ve given me cooties.” Fred slouched and pouted. “Why won’t you just let me go?”

Fighting back a laugh, she shook her head at Fred’s antics. “Yes, I’m sure that would have been just terrible.” Growing serious, she looked at Fred’s slouching form. “I let you go once. I don’t think I can do it again.”

Frowning, Fred reached out and stroked her face. “You’re twenty-seven. Bit old for an imaginary friend. It’s time for you to be a big girl and forget about me.” He stepped closer. “Just, kiss me first… Just once and I’ll go. You’ll have your normal life back.”

Fred had a point. Lizzie couldn’t deny it. Grown women didn’t need imaginary friends, but he wasn’t just her imaginary friend. Surprised by the thought, Lizzie leaned in and their lips came together. It was a surreal, bittersweet feeling, but it didn’t feel wrong.

Fred’s arms wrapped around her tight and her hands pressed against his torso. She felt the warmth of his lips, how soft they were, and savored it. This could be the last time they were together and the thought hurt.

Reluctantly, she pulled back just enough so their lips no longer touched. How was she supposed to live without Fred again? She had to change things, to see what it might be like if he didn’t go; he couldn’t leave her again. “I’m not saying goodbye.”

Fred stared at her and his somber expression dissolved into a grin. “For once, I love the sound of you not listening to me.”

“Maybe this is the new assertive me.” She smiled. “You’re staying and that’s that.”

“Why, Snotface…” He smirked. “Are you saying I’m all yours, or else?”

Lizzie realized they still embraced with their faces very close, but she didn’t want to move. She liked the feeling of being in Fred’s arms. It felt safe, comfortable, right. She tried to keep her focus on what he said. “All mine? Well, who’s would you be?” She suddenly felt shy as Fred’s nose brushed with hers.

“No one’s. Hard to really go anywhere and refuse a request like yours when you’ve stolen all of me. You’ve got my heart, ‘Lizabeth.” Closing his eyes, Fred laid a soft kiss against her lips and Lizzie sighed against them.

She couldn’t believe Fred had said that. It was so sweet, so unlike him. She gently kissed him back. This was happening between them, and part of her wondered why, and the other part of her told that part to shut up.

Lizzie pulled back just enough to whisper, “Don’t leave.”

* * *

 

Drop Dead Fred sat in the rocking chair near Jessica’s bed. His new charge slept, alternating between nose whistles and snores because of her cold. Fred found it strangely melodic, watching her in contemplation. He’d been assigned to her for a week and it still felt odd being in a new place with a new kid. Empty, really. A feeling that had grown over the last six months, which both bothered and confused him.  
  
“I don’t think I’ll ever get use to change…” he whispered, watching his drooling friend. “Don’t tell anyone. Just looks easy because I’m Fred.” His fingers drummed against the armrest. As often as he switched from kid to kid, moving on never became any less difficult. Guilt stayed with him for a time, and he worried if he’d left charges too soon. He never got to find out if he had, except for Lizzie.  
  
“Wish I could just explain to all of you that I don’t have a choice,” he said, watching Jessica sleep. “You’re my second friend in six months, actually.” She rolled onto her back and snorted, making Fred laugh. “You’re lots of fun, though, for a Snot-Whistle.” He used his magic to pull the blankets she’d kicked off back around her, but his joy faded. “And in a few more months, I’ll be gone from you, too because I’m just a crazy, wide-eyed loner… still on a doomed space mission to Venus.”

Contempt flared at the truth in his story, his small way of revealing he was an incubus, expected to return to his nature. “It’s stupid,” he lamented, but being an incubus Fred couldn’t stay near the same human for long. The imaginary friend council had come up with that law as a precaution, fearing what the long-term effects of his presence might be around a mortal female.

It didn’t matter that his nature wouldn’t get used on a child. His very presence eventually wore on whoever he connected to because of how his magic worked. Since his powers couldn’t connect with a male, it forced him to have only female charges.

Begrudgingly, the council had allowed him to help girls under stricter laws and he hated their reasons. A shortened time frame, all because they had declared him a ticking time bomb and unnatural. Fred scowled.

“I’m not unnatural,” he muttered. “I’m fabulous…”

Jessica’s nose whistled, catching his attention.

“You know,” he said to his snoring friend, “if you weren’t sick we could be having all sorts of fun right now. I was gonna put the Slip ‘N Slide on the stairs. We coulda taken turns launching the dead fish your mum has in the fridge down it!” Hopeful, Fred leaned closer and eyed her, but she didn’t even stir. “Hmm. Guess all that sick made ya deaf.”

Huffing, he sat back, tapping his foot on the floor. He needed a distraction from his solitude. Quiet led to more thinking, which eventually led to how much he missed Lizzie, which definitely led to rash decisions, and pissing her off even more. Honestly, he still couldn’t figure out what had made her so mad in the first place.  
  
“Do me a favor when you grow up, Snot-Whistle. When some bloke comes ’round and confesses how he feels about you, don’t go off your trolley like a swarm of flying monkeys just flew up and nested in your dress!” His fingers drummed faster against the armrest. “This was never supposed to happen, you know. I almost wasn’t an imaginary friend. Maybe Snotface would’ve been happier that way...” He gripped the armrests and sniffled, the gnawing, empty ache in his chest growing worse.

 _Why can’t I ever get her out of my head? Bet she’s fast asleep and forgotten all about me, too, that Snotface._  
  
“It’s not like I could’ve told her what I really am on day one. What’s she expect? Should I have just shouted it? Said, ‘Hey, Snotface, guess what! I’m a sex demon! You’re short. Nice to meet you! I-’”

A familiar presence stopped him cold, crawling through him. He shivered, straightening in his seat as the energy tugged at his magic.

“Wait. I know this...” he muttered, looking down at Jessica. “...but it’s not you.” The bond between him and his current charge allowed him to sense when they needed him, even in dreams. A handy tool for destroying nightmares. “It’s human, though… but that doesn’t make any sense." The magical pull’s urgency grew and Fred’s familiarity along with it, but he couldn’t pinpoint the source. “But no one else should be able to summon me. It’s-”

His eyes widened.

“Snotface?” He gasped. “Oh my god, it’s Lizzie!”

He felt her, calling to him from her dream world. She hadn’t done that since she was a child having nightmares and in his surprise he couldn’t hold back his manic smile. “Bloody hell… I’d forgotten about the link…” He hadn’t been able to close it after he’d left, but had never figured out why. “Maybe she’s not so pissed after all...”

Renewed hope surged within him and Fred shot to his feet. He couldn’t stand still. He had to go to her. She still needed him. This proved it.

_Maybe I’ll just pop in. After all, what can a peek hurt?_

Bouncing on his heels, Fred blinked away and entered Lizzie’s dream world. Heart pounding, he found himself inside a dark room. Anticipation flooded him at his chance to learn what Lizzie thought and felt for him, but it did not go as he expected.

A dream version of himself embraced Lizzie in the moment of their goodbye, kissing her like he wanted to swallow her.

Fred’s jaw dropped and he stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet. “Oh my g-” His hands clasped over his mouth, muffling his shriek before she heard him scream like a girl.

The vision smiled at Lizzie and traced a gentle finger along her cheek. “I made a mistake, Snotface. I can’t leave you. I need you too much, and you still need me,” he whispered, bestowing a soft kiss to her lips. “Promise me you’ll never stop.”

“Is that all it takes to get you to stay? I really need you for something right now.” She pressed her lips to his. “This could take awhile,” she murmured against his mouth.

“Well, I have forever, which is how long I’m gonna keep you,” he said, crushing her against him and claiming her mouth in an earnest kiss.

From the dark, Fred’s blue eyes popped out of his skull.

 _Oh my god… Is that how she wants me to talk? She’s dreamed me into a bloody girl! And- Wait. We’re kissing? Snotface wants to kiss me?_ His body broke into a vortex of emotions. Elation, confusion, embarrassment, jealousy, and the pulse of his awakening desire all fought for dominance, but he was too stunned to move, let alone believe what he saw. Did Lizzie return his feelings? Could he be so fortunate to have her love?

Lizzie’s heart pounded. He was going to stay with her forever? His kiss seemed to promise that and more. She let herself become lost in it, kissing him back, trying to show how much she needed him. Her arms pulled him to her tighter, and desperate, she deepened the kiss. Caressing his tongue with hers, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She had to know. “Fred, do you need me like I need you?”

Fred bit his hand to stifle the guttural sound that threatened to erupt from him, her words awakening his starved incubi nature. He could nearly feel what it would be like to have her tongue sweeping over his and he thought for a moment that if he dared to breathe that it would come out as a moan and give himself away. He tried to fight it, that incurable ache that wanted all control of him, but the fact that it was Lizzie saying she needed him to a dream version of his own self made him weak. _Oh fuck, I need her_ , he thought. _I really do. So much._

“Yes, Lizzie. I need you. I really do. So much,” the vision answered, stroking the curve of her lip with his thumb. His other hand cradled the back of her head, bringing her mouth closer to his.

The real Fred’s eyes widened. _Oh hell_ , he thought, realizing what was happening. His powers were acting without him. _I’m influencing the dream_ …

The vision gazed into Lizzie’s eyes with so much need that he appeared as though he would drink her in, if only to keep her there forever as a part of him. His mouth waited only a breath apart from hers and he whispered, thick with desire, “Do you need to know how much?”

“Yes,” she whispered, hoarsely, staring into his blue eyes with an intense need of her own. Her lips were so close to his it was as though they breathed in each other’s breaths.

“I don’t know what burns more for you, Lizzie. My heart, my soul…” The vision’s mouth curled up as he blushed. “Or my body, Darling.”

Fred jerked. _Darling?! Pfft! I would never say that! How can she think I’d ever- Wait._ _If I’m spewing poetry, then I’m not completely controlling this dream yet. This is her doing..._

Relaxing, Fred hoped this gave him enough time to get himself back under control. He didn’t want to leave just yet. He knew he should, but he needed to see what Lizzie wanted from him. The sight of them together was too entrancing and tempting to look away. _Maybe just a bit longer…_ he thought, watching Lizzie’s fantasy of him kiss and caress her.

The vision continued, speaking between every taste of her mouth, “I wanna spend every waking second with you. To love you every night until you can’t keep awake any longer, then wake you every morning with my body until you can’t get out of bed. To be the first and the last thing you feel, see, and taste before you dream and after you wake. I want you to be mine, Lizzie. I don’t want anyone else. You’re everything. I promise I’m gonna stay with you for good this time. I’m done being an imaginary friend. I wanna be more for you; I wanna be human. Just say the magic words and I’ll give this all up for you and be mortal.”

Drop Dead Fred’s growing lust took a sharp dive and his heart wrenched with betrayal. _Mortal? Human?!_ She wanted him human? Was that the only way she could accept him? _No… Not my Snotface. She wouldn’t... Right?_ Shaking, he wrapped his arms around himself, holding his breath. He needed her answer.

Closing her eyes, Lizzie reveled in the sensation of his mouth tasting hers. His words only added to the ecstasy she felt. It was pure bliss and she didn’t want it to end. “Fred,” she whispered, her voice tinged with desire. “I want you. Love me. Stay with me. Be mine always.” She opened her eyes, staring into his. “Make me yours.”

Fred crashed to his knees in the shadows behind Lizzie. _Oh god no_ , he thought, his eyes shutting and his breath going shallow. Whether his dream self did anything before him now, he didn’t hear, all he heard was the rush of his pulse and the blood in his ears. _Why did she have to say that?_ Her need beckoned and teased him. She had given him permission, dream self or not. The ravenous desire inside him wanted to comply- it wanted to comply right now.

_No, no, no. You can’t do this. Don’t touch her, ya bastard. You promised. Stop it!_

Wincing, Fred fought against the pull, fingers curling over the ground, but his very skin prickled with want. A deep ache started in his soul and spread to his groin, throbbing, and sending him into a state where he just wanted more of the feeling. He wanted Lizzie so much, he could sense her in the air around him, needing him. She called to his soul and it overwhelmed and frayed his resolve.

_Leave. Oh god, leave now!_

“I need you so much, Fred. Make love to me,” said Lizzie.

Before he could stop it, his essence reached out and washed over hers in an ethereal caress that made them both shudder together, and he gasped as his spirit touched hers for the first time. The connection was instantly addicting and his energy coated hers, pulling at the lust radiating off Lizzie and drinking it in- her lust for _him._ It was like taking a breath of air after holding it his entire life and he needed more. _Fuck, she’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted…_

Lizzie gasped against the vision’s mouth as pleasure washed over her. Her body flooded with desire, desperate for release. Grinding her hips against his, she kissed him again, thrusting her tongue into his mouth, tasting him, trying to swallow his desire. She wanted his body against hers, skin against skin, his hardness filling her until they both cried out in ecstasy.

Breathless, she leaned back, looking into the vision’s eyes. Their chests rose and fell in unison as they struggled to catch their breath. “You’re pretty good at this. Are you sure you’re a virgin?” She smiled as she snaked a hand down his waist and brushed the bulge in his pants.

“Not for much longer,” said the vision, smirking.

“Oh... fucking... hell!” Fred gasped from the shadows, watching Lizzie tease over the vision’s very noticeable erection. _I want her. It’s just not fair!_ His breath turned ragged and his body shook. He throbbed for her inside his trousers and brushed his hand over the ache. Fred gasped at finding himself fully erect and a shiver of pleasure pulsated through his cock at the contact.

 _Oh, shit... That feels way too good…_ His eyes rolled back and he sat up on his knees, craving more. Rubbing himself, Fred moaned from the titillating tremor coursing through his groin. His trousers felt so tight and unbearable. He’d never wanted to not be a virgin anymore so much in all his life.

Lizzie and the vision’s mouths crashed together, their lust rising and their breath one. They kissed, consumed by endless passion, hands exploring each other’s bodies. Lizzie bit the vision’s lip as he squeezed her ass. She moaned into his mouth and pressed herself against his hardness. “Let’s take care of this virgin situation,” she breathed.

 _Yes, yes. Oh fuck, please_ , thought Fred, consumed by his incubi nature, the vision repeating every word and grinding against Lizzie. Fred’s eyes widened and he groaned. He’d never been so hard and he burned to please her, to make her feel everything she ever wanted. He didn’t think he could live if he didn’t have her and he squeezed his cock, imagining that her hand held him instead. A tantalizing ache tightened his balls and made him shudder. _Oh, I’d give anything to whisper in her ear what she’s doing to me…_

“Do you know what you do me?”

Fred’s attention snapped to the vision, watching as he dragged his lips along Lizzie’s cheek all the way to her earlobe.

“It’s not fair to be so close to you, so connected and not inside you. I’d love to know what it’s like...” Gently, he sucked her earlobe, bringing a soft moan from her that made the real Fred’s cock twitch.

He could feel her; every ache, every desire, her very desperation to be with him coursing through him like it was his own. “Oh fuck, lemme feel what it’s like!” Fred gasped and weaved his desire through her essence to bring her to the same height of arousal as himself. They moaned as one and Fred fumbled to undo his pants. He needed release and he needed one with Lizzie.

Reaching in, his cock throbbed intensely as his fingers met with bare skin. His breath hitched and his magic shared the sensation of what he felt with Lizzie. Gripping his shaft, Fred’s eyes rolled back and he moaned from the pleasurous jolt that already had him on edge.

Head thrown back, eyes closed, Lizzie moaned again as the vision tasted her skin, his warm breath caressing her body. Her need was like a caged animal and it wanted out. She shuddered as a wave of pleasure washed over her, so intense, that her body responded, growing wet in readiness. Opening her eyes, she looked into the vision’s blue ones and her breath caught.

His eyes had changed, darkened and showing a thin ring of blue around his pupils that mirrored her own desire.

“Your eyes,” she murmured. “They’re so intense.” Another wave of pleasure overtook her, nearly bringing her to her knees. “I need you. Now.” She grabbed the top of his pants, pulling him closer and unbuttoning them, desperate to feel his desire in her grasp. She slipped her hands in and closed them around his hardness. Lizzie gasped in relief, squeezing and stroking him.

From the shadows, Fred moaned. He felt her, her hands around him like a tantalizing phantom, and his eyes opened, darkened just as in her dream. His last shred of sanity snapped from somehow feeling everything he watched Lizzie doing to his dream self. Each stroke made him shudder and he squeezed himself harder. “How’s this happening?” he cried, moaning after another blissful caress. “Bloody hell don’t stop…”

Lizzie grinned, savoring how the vision groaned at her touch and she stroked him again. “Touch me. I want you to feel me as I’m feeling you.”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Fred and the vision said together.

Smirking, Fred connected his magic with Lizzie’s center, swirling it around her entrance and teasing into her core. His eyes fluttered and he released a long moan, instantly needing more. “I’m always here to help, Snotface.” He growled as the vision copied everything he now said, spurring Fred’s animalistic nature even further. Closing his eyes, Fred willed the vision to lift Lizzie’s skirt and slip his fingers beneath her pantyline for him.

The vision did as asked, and Lizzie was rewarded with a sweet, agonizing sensation that made her ache. Her gasp turned into a moan as the vision growled and lifted her skirt, slowly teasing her with his fingertips. She thrusted her hips forward, desperate for more of his touch. Lizzie stroked his cock again and rubbed her aching center against his fingers. “I’m so close, Fred. Are you close?”

“Yes!” Fred winced, agonized that he couldn’t feel Lizzie on his fingers for real, but he was too overcome to move. He wanted all of her, he wanted to make her feel what no one had. His body trembled, his breath turned to gasps, and he madly pumped himself into his hand. The vision mimicked him, thrusting into Lizzie’s grasp and making Fred’s cock throb with jealous need. “Please,” he cried to her, the tension in his groin begging for release. “I need you… with me… Together… Will you cum with me?”

Lizzie shivered, breathing harder, the tension building within her as they teased and tortured each other. “I thought you’d never ask,” she said, giving him a teasing smile. “I’ll race you.” She stroked him faster.

Fred’s playful smirk flashed at her remark, the vision following him in sync.

“Catch me if you can,” they answered.

Fred’s magic caressed Lizzie’s body, filling her with the insatiable lust that he held for her. He needed to see the look of pleasure on her face when she came for him, to feel what he’d made her feel. The anticipation left him manic with desire as he listened to Lizzie’s unbridled cries.

“Yes! Just like that! Don’t stop!” She panted, the tension in her core feeling like it would snap at any moment. Each sensation overwhelmed her, but she reveled in all of them. It was pure pleasure and she didn’t want it to stop. He slipped two fingers inside her folds and she felt herself tighten around him. “Fred!” She moaned, shuddering as he teased her sensitive flesh. “Please…”

Greedily he pulled at her lust, wanting to take every bit into himself until she was a part of him. His cock pulsed in his grasp, his breath desperate and loud. “I’m so-” He shuddered, moaning as he neared the edge. “Liz- Oh, Lizzie- You’re gonna make me cum!”

Fred crashed forward, bracing himself with one hand as his orgasm surged through him. Body arched, he shuddered, thrusting into his hand with voracious need and spilling onto the floor. He moaned, but it strangled in his throat, dying out in a labored breath.

As the vision moaned and came in her hands, Lizzie thrusted her hips and came, crying out as the orgasm made her body shudder, leaving her awash in euphoria. Her desire, still present and unsated, swelled and she pumped his hard cock while he worked her center with his fingers. She gasped, wishing he was inside her, hard and ready to take her. Panting, they teased each other into a fervor, erupting into another climax together.

Their shared orgasm sent tremors through Fred’s body and he gasped, feeling her craving to have him inside her. “Oh fuck,” he said through clenched teeth. Imagining what Lizzie might feel like made him shudder in anticipation, a shiver pulsing through his cock. His body shook with need. “Oh yes…” he murmured. His right arm gave out and he rolled onto his back, arching as he thrusted into his hand. Pumping his cock, he closed his eyes, seeing Lizzie’s face in his mind. He imagined again what it would be like to be inside her and came, digging his heels against the ground. His warm seed dripping down his shaft fueled the fantasy and he growled.

The vision growled in Lizzie’s ear, making her moan. He teased her sensitive flesh and she cried out, her juices flowing onto his hand. She moved her hips in quick rhythm to take his fingers deeper, her breath coming out in ragged gasps. “Don’t stop, Fred,” she managed to say between breaths.

Lizzie’s desires consumed Fred, bringing him to an ecstasy he had never known existed. His clothes rippled with a green glow of energy that bled to black, consuming the color between every wave of lust. Bucking his hips, Fred let out several short, loud cries of pleasure.

“Oh god!” Lizzie gave one last thrust of her hips and ground herself against the vision as her orgasm kept pulsing through her center. “You have magic fingers.” Letting out a shaky breath, she moaned again as the last of her climax shuddered through her. “That was amazing,” she said, breathless. Her body now lax with pleasure, she smiled at him.

“Oh, Fred, you’re- That was-” She sighed. “I’ve never had that many- Ya know.” She blushed. “I think I need to feel that again.”

“I… Fuck, Snotface, me too!” said Fred from the shadows. Panting, he watched Lizzie, astounded by what they’d shared and memorized every sound, every detail about this moment. He never dreamed it could be like this between them, that she could need him this much. Chills ran over his skin. He still felt her essence inside him, their connection stronger than ever, and he loved every drop. “Although, I think I’d like to feel you a bit more up close next time…” he added, his dream self parroting everything he said, and mimicking his playful grin. “Still got this virgin thing, you know.”

“If being up close is half as good as that was, I say why wait?” She smiled up into his eyes, gently stroking him again. “You’re still ready to go. That’s pretty impressive.”

Sensing Lizzie’s stroke along his shaft, Fred jerked, looking down at his still hard cock. However, his smile vanished and he fell from his high at what he noticed.

Half of his jacket had changed to black.

“Oh shit…”

The vision moaned into Lizzie’s open mouth, his hands sweeping along her back and pressing her to him. She gently biting his lip, caressing his tongue, tasting and devouring him as much as he devoured her. Her hands slid out of his pants, moving around him and grabbing his ass. She groaned aloud, breathless as he continued to kiss her.

“Oh god, Fred,” she breathed into his mouth. She tilted her head back, allowing him access to her neck. The vision complied, kissing her jaw, her neck, and working his way down. She held onto his waist, using him to support her weight. “Don’t stop.”

Fred’s attention snapped back to Lizzie and his breath seized. “Oh no, what’ve I done?” he whispered, yanking his hand away from his cock like he’d been bitten. Fred again noticed his blackened jacket and his heart pounded. “Fuck, what’ve I done?!” he cried, guilt sinking into his gut. _I broke my promise and now something’s wrong with my suit._ Dread consumed him and a terrible thought entered his mind.

Lifting his hand, Fred ignited his magic in his palm. His eyes widened. “Fucksake...” Black smoke tinged the normal, green glow of his powers just as he’d feared.

“Touch me,” Lizzie moaned, eyes closed.

Fred’s fears and regret faded as his need for her reignited under her command. She was the most tempting, most beautiful woman he’d ever encountered and it tortured him that he wasn’t making love to her, tasting all of her. He hated himself for it, especially after what he’d done. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, Snotface.” His voice broke.

Before him, his dream self nibbled at Lizzie’s neck, sucking and licking her skin and the real Fred couldn’t stop his powers from taking another hit off her desires. From the corner of his eye he watched the color drain from his right pant leg, turning it black. His jaw dropped, panic rising inside him. He had to stop this before it was too late, but another moan from Lizzie forced his sights back on the dream.

“I want you. I need you inside me,” said Lizzie, her body slack as his figment slid his hands up her shirt, caressing her breasts.

Several of the stripes on Fred’s trousers went black and he writhed, clutching his head. His breathing turned erratic and it took everything he had not to fully invade the dream, not to take over and have his hands on Lizzie’s body instead. He wanted to fully make her his, just like she asked, he craved her to the point of madness, and he bit his lip to push down the groan that tried to claw its way out of him.

Opening her eyes, Lizzie straightened in the vision’s arms and moved her hands to his jacket. Looking in his eyes, she undid the buttons, smiling as she ran her hands up his chest. “When did you get a new suit?”

Jumping, Fred looked down, watching Lizzie peel open the front of his jacket. “When did I get here?” he asked, gasping as he realized his hand now squeezed her breast in place of his dream self. He’d taken over the dream.

“Oh no. I’ve gotta go. Now.” He pushed her back, panic flooding him. “I shouldn’t have- I’m sorry! I love you! I-” He couldn’t finish his sentence, feeling himself break and give into his nature.

Gathering his last shred of willpower, Fred magicked himself from the dream, putting enough distance between him and Lizzie to sever the connection before he did something they would later regret.

Gasping, Lizzie woke, eyes looking around her darkened room. “I- What the hell?” She sat up, patting herself down. “What the fuck was that?”


	3. The Incubus' New Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Authors' Notes:
> 
> zombierose3: I have no regrets and you're welcome. ;)
> 
> unleashthewords: This is my version of therapy. Mwahaha! Fred needs some tough love.
> 
> **Disclaimers: We don't own Drop Dead Fred, and we're not making a single profit from this work. Shea and Gabriel belong to unleashthewords (She's still amused by that).

 

* * *

****"Lilin" is a term for both succubi and incubi spirits (AKA, night spirits). We're using the word to describe their people as a whole.****

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_The Incubus' New Clothes_

Hours later, Fred returned to his world, to Lullabi, completely wrecked. He kept his head down, hurrying past anyone he saw. As always, he heard the whispers about him, felt the stares, but tonight they barely registered next to what he'd just done. He felt like the worst person in existence, a demon, and it terrified him. How could he let himself lose control with the person he loved the most? The more he thought about it, the sicker he felt and everywhere he turned he felt like everyone knew. Worst of all, now Lizzie knew, and their heightened connection had him half-mad.

He swore he sensed her through every part of himself. She was in his head, his body, his soul, even his magic. If he turned around, he half-expected to find her behind him. His steps quickened as if he could outrun the feeling. Why wouldn't it go away? He'd never experienced anything like this before. Was it permanent? His heart pounded at the possibility, scared what it meant for Lizzie.

_What if I hurt her next time? Shit, what if I already did?_

Racing through the darkened streets, everything blurred around him and he didn't stop until arriving at a familiar neighborhood. Shea lived at the end of a long row of buildings. The tall, dark structures dominated the street and looked severe. All lines and sharp edges, made them look more like dungeons than dwellings. The many windows did nothing to change the unwelcoming atmosphere and the few that weren't curtained only let a small amount of light shine onto the black street. Glancing into one of the windows he could see into, Fred regretted it when he saw two individuals in the act of sex. The scream died in his throat as he hurried over to the last door, keeping his gaze firmly fixed to the safety of Shea's home.

"This is why I don't come home," he said, taking the steps two at a time. Fred ran his hands over the sleeves of his jacket, which had thankfully returned to its vibrant display of colors. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered, scowling at the bronzed door knocker of a woman in the throes of ecstasy. A memory of Lizzie in that state, head thrown back and moaning flashed in his mind and Fred gasped. "Ah, come on!" he cried, stumbling back and pulling his hair. A residual wave of Lizzie's desires rolled through him like a siren's song, making him shudder. "Snotface... bloody hell already, piss off!"

Gritting his teeth, Fred struggled to steady his breathing and remember why he came here. The libidinous energy inside him slowly waned and his focus returned. He lifted his hand, hesitating to knock. "Never believed it'd come to this..." he whispered. Grimacing, he rapped on the door, staring up at the eternally night sky. "Oh, she's just gonna love this one..."

"Come," a soft, feminine voice replied.

Opening the door, Fred peeked inside at his one hope. "Guess who."

"Well, look what the imaginary cat dragged in," the woman said from her place on a purple couch. She lounged on her stomach, her bare feet playing with a pillow. She was small, but possessed generous curves. Her dark hair covered most of her back, but what could be seen of her body showed bare, tan skin.

"Hi, Sis." He smiled, sheepishly, and entered, the door swinging shut behind him. Fred slouched, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Thought I'd drop by. It's only been, what? About twenty-five years?"

Sitting up, her hair fell in waves around her, revealing large breasts. She smiled with green, feline-like eyes, lined in black, looking genuinely amused. "What a lovely surprise. You look like hell." She sat back and crossed her arms under her breasts, drumming her fingers on her arms. Feeling the lust still boiling inside him, both surprised and worried her. He had never shown up in her home feeling like a hormonal teenager. He would be mortified if he realized she could tell he was exuding lust like an over-perfumed prostitute.

"I feel like hell, and- Ugh! God, Shea!" He recoiled and shielded his eyes. "Do you ever wear clothes? I'm your brother, ya know! I shouldn't know the look of your dangly lumps as well as your face!" he cried, gagging. He really hated coming home. Lullabi was a nudist realm, making him stick out like a sore and green thumb.

The drumming increased as Shea sighed. This was the usual ritual they went through when he bothered to come for a visit. She supposed she could wear clothes, but it was more fun to see him so at odds with his nature. Lilin embraced their sexuality and nudity, and were open about all things related to sex and desire. Her brother was a very rare breed, and while the rest of the family teased and bemoaned such a family member, Shea looked after her baby brother, mostly.

Shea stood, smiling sweetly. "I believe the word you want is 'breasts,' Baby Brother. You're like an obnoxious, innocent, little, green cherub. Your love of clothes is so refreshing for a male, and an incubus," she mused as she closed the distance between them. Gently, she patted his cheek. "I do so adore your visits, when you make them that is." She looked at him closely, squeezing his face in her hand. "You seem... unsatisfied and more agitated than usual. What have you been doing?" She paused and crossed her arms. "Spill, Lorcan."

Fred turned his face from her and scowled. "You know I hate to be called that anymore," he said, watching the floor. The blush on his cheeks felt unbearable. After centuries of advancement, couldn't his people adopt clothes? Fred nervously tapped his fingers against his thighs. "Agitated is right," he said, "but would you  _please_  put something on?"

Shea rolled her eyes. "It's your damn name, and clearly I can see you're agitated! A blind man could. Why are you stalling?" She sighed when he chose to stare at the ceiling and ignore her. "If I put something on will you speak to me instead of whining?"

"Wha-" Fred looked down, accidentally getting an eyeful of his sister's breasts. "Shea!" His eyes popped out of his head like a cartoon and snapped back into place. The force knocked him into the door. "Ah, great! Now I'm gonna be blind!" he cried, covering his eyes. Fred groaned. "This is the worst day of my life! My eyeballs are jumpin' outta my skull, your girlie bits are everywhere, and you won't even call me by my good name. You know this is why I don't come home!"

"I forgot how much of a drama queen you are," she said, unmoved by his display. "Your good name is the one our parents gave you, and you don't come home because you don't want to run into our brothers, or Father." She waved her arm across her body and a long, black column of smoke appeared and wrapped around her body transforming into a slinky dress. "Now that your virgin eyes will be spared... Why are you back and acting like such a bratty, little prude?"

Sensing the magical shift in the air, Fred peeked through his fingers and breathed a sigh of relief that Shea had dressed. It didn't stop him, however, from sticking out his tongue like a giant child. "Yeah, well they don't wanna see me either, so it works out alright," he said. His demeanor shifted in a blink and he slouched, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. "Maybe I missed you, though," he mumbled, shrugging.

Shea rubbed her temples. Same thing as always. Her brother pretended no one wanted to see him, but he kept himself away. He hadn't spoken to their father in a century and a half. Their last chat had turned into a screaming match and Fred had sworn to never speak to their father again. "You know, I would be moved if I didn't think that was total bullshit. Father isn't speaking to you, but Mother would love for you to come home more."

Fred winced and tapped his foot, guilty at the mention of their mother. After his father had disowned him, he'd never been able to face her. Her favorite had no doubt become the disappointment and just imagining the look on her face had been too much for him. The last time he'd seen her, he'd been fifteen; two hundred and ninety years ago. He wondered what she'd think of him now if she knew what he'd done.  _Probably disown me, too._

"You could even come see me, but you don't," added Shea, pacing. She wasn't in the mood for games, especially after the news she had received only minutes earlier. "I love you, but this martyr act is wearing thin. When will you stop hiding from your family? Why are you here, Lorcan?"

He straightened, knowing he couldn't put anything past her. Like all others of their kind, they could read each other and right now he hated it more than usual. "You always were good at seeing right through me. Kinda makes things difficult... for me, you know," he added with a weak smile. "But you're wrong... I did miss you." The admittance left him uncomfortable and he decided it best to just dive right into the real mess before he felt even more like a sop.  _But no harm in one last bit of fun before the shit hits the fan, I suppose._  He raised his finger and smiled.

"And before I answer that other question-" Picking his nose, Fred wiped a piece of snot on her cheek and sniggered. Shea gasped in horror. "There.  _Much_  better!"

"You know I hate that!" she shouted. "Do it again and the clothes come off, yours included!" Grabbing his arm, she used his sleeve to wipe her face. "So gross. I wish you'd grow up. You're three hundred years old for fuck's sake!" She made a face at him.

"Three hundred and five," he corrected, sticking out his tongue.

"Like those five years give you maturity." She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I like you, or you'd be on the floor right now." She took a seat on the couch. "Now, care to explain yourself, or will you be eating something off the floor next?"

Laughing, Fred plopped down beside her. "Like I'd eat anything off this floor. I've a pretty good idea what's been trampled, pecked, and stamped on it," he said, eyeing the rug. His mood soured. "Alright." He sighed and looked Shea in the eyes. "I need your help... I've got a bit of a problem."

"I know. You'd weep if you knew what happens in this room, on this couch, on the bed..." She grinned at him. "Basically a lot of sex happens." Shea laughed at her brother's horrified face. "You're priceless." She shook her head and waved a hand at him. "And clearly, you have a problem, besides that horrid suit, or you wouldn't be here. So, what's going on? Did you forget where you parked your imaginary car?"

"Ha, ha." He sneered. "You know that only happened once and I was new and lost my imaginary keys. Look, I'm trying to be serious for once, Scheherazade. I've-"

Fred groaned and slumped back on the sofa, holding his face. "I didn't come to you for imaginary problems. I'm here about... adult-like ones," he muttered behind his hands. He didn't know if he could stand seeing her at the same time she heard his news. "You're the only one I could bear to talk to about it, and if I tell you, you've gotta swear you'll never, ever, ever tell anyone else!"

"Well, color me intrigued. It seems you have grown up. Slightly." She stared at him even though he couldn't see her and sighed when he wouldn't budge. "Move your hands," she said, pushing at his arms. "I'm not going to pinky promise. You should trust me because I'm your sister."

Relenting, Fred lowered his hands and looked at her, a pout on his face. "Of course I trust you. It's why I came to you over anyone else..." He looked down at his lap, taking in the colors on his suit and remembering what had happened. "There's this... human. Lizzie. A real snotface. I use to be her imaginary friend. She grew up, though, but her life fell apart, and I got pulled back by some fluke. I wasn't supposed to stay, but I did, and I helped her again anyways. It's sorta created a bit of a mess."

Shea kept her face blank. "Alright, that's not unusual for you. You love mess. Where exactly is the problem?"

Fred wrang his hands together and met Shea's eyes. "It's a problem because I... I fell in love with her and it's causing my nature to go...  _insane_." He cringed.

The smile on her face instantly turned into a grimace. "Oh shit, Lorcan." She groaned. "What would possess you to go around a mortal when your feelings are all over the place? This story doesn't end well, does it?" She clenched her fists so she wouldn't drum her fingers, or strangle him.

Fred laughed, anxiously. "See, you always did see right through me." He gulped, his smile dying. "Um, no. It bloody doesn't. I'd tried to leave her six months back when the job was done, but I just couldn't go on without her anymore. Every day it just... hurt, so I... went and told her tonight."

Shea growled and covered her face with her hands. "Lorcan, please say that's the worst part," she muttered, looking at him again. "I don't think I can take much more of this. What happened? Please just say it."

"Okay. Short version. She needed time to think. I left, then somehow, I don't fucking know how this happened, she called me to her dream. I got curious and thought maybe it'd give me a peek at what she feels for me, so I went in." Fred fidgeted, squirming in his seat, his face red. He took a deep breath. "I... I lost control, Shea... and my magic touched and fed off her- We, we didn't have sex, though! I left before that! Barely." He whispered the last word and cringed. "We, um, did have several orgasms first, though..." He turned his gaze from Shea, wishing to he could bury himself.

Mouth open in shock, Shea could only stare at her brother. This was completely unlike him. If she hadn't heard it from him and seen his face, she would have thought it all an elaborate joke. Panic set it.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" She leapt to her feet and paced wildly. "Damn it, Lorcan! Of all the idiotic- You have fucked things royally this time, and that includes stealing a suit from the fucking leprechauns!" She whirled at him, running her hands through her hair. "Damn it, Gabe said it was bad, but I was hoping it was stupid gossip. This is going to be all anyone will talk about." She resumed pacing. "Don't panic, Shea, you can fix this. Use your fabulous brain and think of something."

"Gabe? Wha-? He knows? How does he kn- Hold it! You heard something? You knew this whole time and you just let me go on and embarrass myself like, like- Oh fucking hell!" he cried, grabbing his face. Growling, he hopped to his feet and followed next to Shea. "Does everyone know? Everyone doesn't already know, do they? How much is out? I mean- Oh fuck, I have to leave! Dad's gonna find out, and he'll find a way to kill me! And then he'll bring me back and do it all over again! I- I can't stay here! Everyone's probably out there gossiping about how Lorcan, the Virgin Shame nearly popped his cherry and, and- Fucking piss!" Fred started hyperventilating and snatched hold of Shea's arm. "What am I gonna do?"

Shea was having a hard enough time keeping herself from going into full panic mode. The last thing she needed was her brother flipping out. He didn't even seem to realize the true seriousness of the situation. Grabbing him by the shoulders, Shea gave him a hard shake. "Lorcan! Shut up! I can't think with you hollering in my ear! Your embarrassment is the least of your worries! We have bigger problems!" She looked him up and down, taking in his clothing. "That is just one of them." She stared him in the eyes. "Strip!"

"The hell?" Fred batted her hands away and jumped back like he'd been shocked. "Piss off! You'll get this suit over my dead body! It and I have been through enough tonight. This is the one thing keeping me together! I nearly lost it alre-" He clamped his mouth shut before saying anymore, but his eyes widened at the mistake.  _Uh oh._

A strangled scream escaped from her. "Stop being such a fucking prude and listen to me! This suit isn't helping you! If they find you wearing it you're gonna be in even more trouble! It's not keeping you together, it's stopping you from being who you are." She looked it over and then watched his face. He wouldn't look her in the eyes. "You almost broke it, didn't you?" she asked. "Your damn libido got out of control and almost broke this nasty, green Band-Aid of yours." She grinned at him, but it wasn't friendly. It was feral. "I think you better say goodbye to your suit."

Terror pulsed through him, but he lifted his chin. If he didn't blink she had to believe him and back off. "I didn't nearly break it! My suit's working great, actually! Strong as ever." He knocked on his chest for emphasis. "Unbreakable, even!" He backed up, stumbling, and bumping into the side table. "And you're confused because it does let me be who I really am! I wanna be more than some demon sex fiend. This suit helps me. It makes me closer to being human. Besides," he said, pointing at her, "you know you can't take my suit. You've all tried before and it doesn't come off unless I take it off. So, ha!" That smile did not leave her face and Fred's heart raged like thunder.  _Why does she look creepier than those dolls Jessica plays with?_

Shea eyed him from head to toe, ignoring his rambling. The suit had to go and thanks to his big mouth she knew how to do it at last. She flashed that same predatory smile as she walked toward him like a jungle cat. "If you aren't going to listen to me, then I'm happy to do things the hard way." She snapped her fingers and her magic flowed out, grabbing him in an invisible fist.

"Ah! Shea, really!" Fred grunted, trying to wriggle out of her magical death grip. "We can talk about this. Just... just calm down!"

"First," she said, "we're not demons, so stop being an asshole about it. Second, you're not a human and you never will be. Third, this nasty thing goes, and last, I get to see exactly what you've been doing."

"That, that's not necessary!" He laughed. "Alright, yes I screwed up a lot tonight, but I handled it. I've spent the last hour-and-a-half in a red light district taking scraps off ten couples and some pervert in a disgusting, seedy motel, wanking myself blind until I got my head back! So, I'm all better now, satisfied, and lesson learned. Just- How 'bout you set me down and we have a nice cuppa and a laugh?" He smiled, but his fear broke through. He'd never seen that look in anyone's eyes, not even from Lizzie's mom. "Sis? Sis, come on."

"I'm not Mother. You're not going to sweet talk me out of anything." She paused and looked over her shoulder. "Shit. We don't have much time," she said, turning back to him. "I would say I'm sorry, but it would be insincere." Pursing her lips, she let her magic flow toward Fred and caress him, connecting with his mind. "Well, she had you in quite a state, didn't she?" Shea shivered and closed her eyes, tapping into his lust and memories, searching for what he had done with Lizzie. "Looking into a girl's fantasies, Lorcan? Shameful."

"Get out of my head!" He gasped, writhing and fighting to expel her magic. He knew what she was doing, but he couldn't stop her, he didn't have enough control of his powers and Shea had several hundred years on him. "Isn't what you're doing even more shameful? Let me go!" She couldn't take his suit. He had to escape.

"Your idiotic head is what got you here in the first place!" Eyes still closed, she delved further into his encounter with Lizzie. "Well, well, you do have it bad for this Lizzie of yours." Shea opened her eyes and grinned at him. "I'm a succubus. I don't have any shame. She's quite a lovely woman. I'm surprised you have such good taste."

"Shut up! I've got eyes!" Fred growled and kicked. Shea's magic felt like bugs skittering around inside his brain and it took everything he had not to scream. He knew she could see inside his mind without the added effect, which pissed him off even more. "Obviously you don't know much about me. God, that hurts! What the hell do you need to see any of this for? Don't you have enough perverts to peek at?"

"I know more about you than you seem to! Who's the one who scurried to my door with his tail between his legs? You're the one who's messed things up. I actually have a life! I have a lover, and friends, and our parents speak to me without blowing a gasket!" She took a deep breath and pushed her magic harder, tapping into his memories of his confession to Lizzie. She blanched. "You- You showed up at her door dressed in a sheet?"

Closing her eyes, Shea shook her head. "I shouldn't be surprised and yet I am." She looked back at him and glared into his angry eyes. "What else did do you?" Images filled Shea's mind, running at fast forward so she saw and heard everything within seconds. It ended in a flash, leaving her stunned.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Taking a deep breath she tried again. "Lorcan, what possessed you to scare the shit out of Lizzie and then confess your feelings? Did you lose a bet? Were you under the influence of drugs? Were you just wanting to make things more difficult for yourself?" She paced the room. "This is what you give me to work with? No wonder she's upset! I'm upset and I'm just your sister!"

"Yes, well you're always upset," he said, unable to help himself, but some relief washed over him. At least she still admitted she was his sister. "All I did was finally tell her the truth. How am I the bad guy here? I thought it'd get a laugh if I dressed up. Break the ice after so long. It's bloody Halloween for fuck's sake! I can't participate in a holiday? But I came here for help, not for a mind probe! This is why I don't come home!"

"If I'm upset it's because you tell me about the stupid stuff you do! When Father gets ahold of you- Well, it's going to be carnage!" She stopped pacing and took a deep breath. "I need to be calm. I need to set aside that you are useless in this area and figure out what to do." Turning back to Fred, Shea concentrated on the dream he had entered and blinked at him in surprise. "Well, that did escalate quickly. Maybe you aren't a complete lost cause after all."

Watching the rest of the dream unfold, Shea fed off the lust and used it to fuel her magic. She touched that part of him that lusted after Lizzie and prodded it with her powers. His desire rippled and grew, making Shea smile. "Let's turn up the heat, shall we?" The room buzzed as though electricity flowed through the air and with a flick of her wrist, Shea's power slammed into his body.

His starved nature drank every drop and he shuddered hard. Lizzie's stolen desires swirled inside him, rising into a shockwave of euphoria. Fred shook, aching and craving Lizzie more than his own existence. Her essence possessed him, filling his every sense and he struggled to hold onto himself.

"Are you... actually admitting I can do something right?" he asked. The sensation lulled, but waited, vibrating inside him, and Fred realized Shea only toyed with him. If she wanted, she could make him snap and give into his lust for Lizzie. He had to stop her before she broke his suit.

 _This is exactly why I don't wanna be what I am. Why couldn't I just be human?_  he thought, but noticed how her powers fed his own. Pushing back with all his strength, Fred launched his magic at Shea. A swirl of black smoke crashed into her, weakening her magical hold on him and freeing his hands.

She paused, surprised that he had lashed out and was able to free his hands. His magic was like a breeze blowing against her, but his thoughts were like a punch to her gut. She would have preferred him hitting her with the full force of his magic than to hear those thoughts that told her what he really felt. "You're not human! You're an incubus! You're-" Her voice broke. "You're my brother. You'll always be my brother, and whether you realize it or not, I'm trying to help you." She promised herself she would get through to him, even if it meant he would hate her for it. He fought his lust and the hunger, but she knew how to fight harder...

"But you're not helping me!" he cried. "You're trying to take the only thing I have! I can't be with her without this suit!"

"Typical, ungrateful brat. You don't need that ugly, useless, green horror!" She growled at him, her anger rising. "It's stopping you from being who you are, what you are! You hate being lilin, but deep down you enjoy it, and you hate that, too. Did your damn suit stop you from lusting after her? No! It's not fixing anything! It's making it worse!"

"It is not! It's not the problem! My nature's the reason I'm in this mess and I need this suit to bury it!"

"Do you hear yourself? You're trying to stop being who you are and you think magic can fix that." She shook her head. "I just thought you weren't ready for sex, and I was okay with that, but you just don't want to be who were made to be. How can I make you understand what you are is good?"

"Because it can't be good! Everything we do is-" Fred tore his gaze from Shea. How could he explain it? His fists tightened, but he managed to look Shea in the eyes. "I don't want Lizzie thinking of me as just an incubus," he said, his voice suddenly calm. "I want her to see me as more than that. How else is she gonna know I really love her? I don't want her scared of what I might do, or think I just want a snack! I wanna be myself and be able to love her, not lust her! Isn't that what happens when it all gets going? I still feel-" His voice broke, his expression quivering with emotion. "I feel all of it still and it's just... She's everywhere and it won't let go!"

"Lorcan, you're in love with her and this only makes your desire even more potent. You're an emotional mess, and you're amped up on lust. Add that you're a stubborn ass and we have a recipe for disaster." She sighed. "You never listened in school and you never listened to our parents, or me! We tried to explain it all to you, but you were too busy averting your virgin eyes to listen. This is your damn mess. Yours! This is what happens when you play with fire!" She sent more power through their connection, magnifying his lust and feeding off it at the same time.

"I'm not emotional!" Fred tore his gaze from her, fighting against surrendering, but he could not ignore the beat of pleasure that her magic had set upon him. The faint whisper of Lizzie's utterance from her dream entered his mind, ' _I need you. Now. Touch me.'_ His fingers dug against his thighs and pulled at the fabric of his trousers.  _Oh, fuck me. Not now,_  he pleaded. The material suddenly felt stifling and irritated his skin, but he refused to move or show her any sign how affected he'd become. He would not like it, and she couldn't make him.

"Have you been away so long that you've forgotten what an eight-hundred-year-old succubus can do?" She hit him with another dose of her magic, making him writhe. "You love humans, but they are full of lust, too. If they could do what we do, they would do it in a heartbeat, and they would  _not_  follow rules." Her voice lost that throaty growl and she was just angry now, turning that pleasure she sent out into pain.

Fred cried out, doubling over. "I hate you!" He hissed through clenched teeth. Her magic heated inside his body, sending a million pinpricks all throughout his being.

"Good, because it's turning into a mutual feeling right now," she said through gritted teeth. "Since I have your attention, you can writhe in agony and listen. Our people are an important part of the universe. We are here because that is the way things work in order for your precious humans to function. We feed off their desires, their lusts, and they go on their merry ways, a little more satisfied and none the wiser. We try our best to temper them, to keep their carnal desires from turning into another Troy. That was a fucking disaster. A whole fucking war because one damn succubus couldn't control the raging libido of one man and he had to go seduce someone else's wife and steal her away! It turned into a bloodbath!" She paced in front of him.

"It took all of Lullabi to calm that situation down, but it was too little, too late. You think continuing to ignore your lust is going to solve the problem? No, it's not. It's turned into a huge fucking problem and someone has to pay! Do you want that to happen to your precious, mortal girlfriend?" Shea shouted at him, but she didn't care.

Growling, Fred struggled not to collapse. It felt like his insides were on fire. "Of... of course not!" he ground out. "Will ya llllet go of me? Fuck!"

"I'm not finished! You've run from who you are for too long! You want to deny your true self because you're ashamed of it? Ashamed of your own family? You want to play house with a mortal and pretend you can be something you're not?" She glared at him, a hint of the hurt in her eyes. Her voice grew louder and she prowled like a caged animal, angrier than she had ever been. "Wake up! If you don't listen to me, you'll never see her again!"

"What?" Fred's eyes widened. "Why would you say that? Why would you take her away from me?" His heart pounded, aching worse than his body from Shea's magical onslaught. "Shea- Ahh!" He grabbed his sides as the magic snapped at him, his face red from pain.

"You're not listening! This is a fucking disaster! You thought that stupid suit would solve all your problems, but it's made them worse! I saw into your head! This isn't a fairytale. You talk about love, but clearly that's a foreign word to you! If you loved her, you would have done things the right way. Well, if you know so much, then go! Go ahead,  _Fred."_ She growled.

Fred's stomach dropped like he'd fallen into an abyss. He had waited years for Shea to use the name he'd chosen, but now that she had, he didn't feel the joy he had always expected. It felt like a cold slap, like he'd been cast out and severed from the last of his family. From the one sibling he felt safe and accepted by. She had been like a second mother to him, trying harder to understand him more than anyone. Would she really turn him away like all the rest? His only sister out of dozens of brothers? Was he truly alone?

"Go back to her without control and when you return to me after she's gone insane, or is dead, I will look you in the eyes and tell you, 'I told you so.'"

"That's not gonna happen!" he cried. "I won't let it!" Fred shook, sick at the possibility of his greatest fear coming true. Was he really at that point where he couldn't run from it anymore? Would he cause some sort of epic crisis like all the lilin from their history? Would he hurt Lizzie?

 _God, what if she's right?_ he thought. He felt at the end of a frayed and burning rope, but he didn't want to accept it. He just wanted to be with Lizzie in a normal and human way, not as a bloody incubus. He'd lose everything if he gave into his carnal nature, become everything he never wanted. Right now he barely felt as himself and it terrified him. He couldn't let it happen, and suddenly he just felt irate. Shea couldn't force this life on him under threat of abandonment or I told you sos!

"What do you think you can do? You're the incubus who ran away! You ran away from your nature and now you think you can be with a mortal?" She let out a bitter laugh. "Being an imaginary friend must have done something to your brain." Shea felt Fred's despair and felt guilty, but he needed to see the truth. When his anger rose again, she turned the pain into pleasure. She would open his eyes or knock him unconscious trying.

Fred's tight expression laxed and his eyes rolled back into his head, his body giving a shudder. Though it felt immensely good, anger flooded through him. He'd had enough. He wasn't her puppet to just fling around when he came to her in crisis. "Will you just... piss off!" he shouted, shooting his magic out and knocking her back with a shock of the pain she had given him before. Her powers released him and he dropped to the ground, trembling and gasping in relief.

"Ow! Why are you fighting me, you stubborn jackass?" She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. "You're the one who asked for help and when you didn't like what I had to say you got pissed off. Well, newsflash you're an incubus. You just used your powers on me just like you used powers on Lizzie!" She gritted her teeth and lashed out at him with a dose of pleasure double the last. "This seems to be the only way to get through to you!"

Fred stumbled, catching himself on the armchair before he collapsed. "I don't... ugh, wanna be LIKE YOU!" he cried. "STOP TOUCHING ME!" Fred pushed back with all he had, shoving her magic away from him.

She had been ready for him lashing out with his magic, but not for his words. The magic blasted her like strong winds, whipping her hair and making her take a step back. She stared at her brother who gasped for air, full of anger, most of it because of her. Shea was numb as she played his words again in her mind. It was the worst thing he had ever said to her. She stared at a stranger now. She dropped her hands to her side, her magic swirling around her like a protective shell.

Shaking her head, her eyes shone with sadness and loathing. She didn't care if he could feel it and part of her wanted him to. "I don't want to touch you. I don't want to know you. Maybe I never really knew you." She turned away before he saw the tears in her eyes. "I thought I could help you, but I think I was wrong." She cried silently, feeling like she had just lost her brother.

Fred stood, willing his pulse to settle, but his sister's hurt invaded him, stopping his anger cold. He frowned, watching her.  _I am a demon_ , he thought.

"Maybe... I was wrong in coming here," he said, quietly. "Who are we kidding? I don't belong here. Never did. I've been 'round humans so long I'm more one of 'em. I don't wanna be Lorcan. I'm Fred, have been for a long time. So... maybe it's good you recognize it. I'll figure this out on my own. I've always been a loner, anyway. I can navigate this just fine and you'll never have to tell me anything, or see me ever again."

She laughed in disbelief, wiping her eyes. "One of them? You? It must be wonderful being an imaginary friend, living in denial. You couldn't navigate your way out of a condom." She turned around and glared at him. "No matter what you wish, you're an incubus, and if you don't accept that, you're going to lose everyone you ever loved."

"Already have, apparently," he muttered. Her words stung. He knew he could never be human, but he strived toward it anyway. "And it's a good thing then I'll never have use for a shag balloon, isn't it?" he said, throwing an obnoxious sneer to try and cover his hurt. If she wanted to leave him now too, then fine. Big surprise someone else had, had enough of him. Someone else who couldn't accept him for who he was. Still, it broke him apart inside because he never believed Shea could get to that point.

Shea's hurt became spite.  _Try telling me you don't need help when this happens._ She sent a huge dose of lust at him, reminding him how he felt about Lizzie. "Are you going to say goodbye to Lizzie forever, too?"

"I..." Fred panted, the lust rolling over him and making it hard for him to speak. His torrid mind reminded him just how amazing Lizzie had tasted, and how much he had wanted to know every part of her. The image of her eyes, staring into his own and her wet and swollen lips parting for another kiss flashed in his mind. Fred gasped and backed up, heading for the door. He had to get out of there or his sister would never let go.  _I can figure this out. There has to be a way without losing Lizzie._

Shea felt his desire roar to life like a red, hot flame and felt the war inside him. He still fought her, but she could be stubborn, too. Doubling her efforts, she fueled his lust and Fred fell against the door with a thud. "Stop lying to yourself. You want her and the only way that's going to happen is if you accept who you are."

"Ugh! Stop trying to get me to admit to things that AREN'T REAL!" he shouted, but his desperation all but gave him away. His legs shook and he couldn't stand up straight anymore. "Obviously I never belonged here to begin with! Maybe it's all just one, big, flying cosmic joke I'm an incubus! The black sheep of everything! Not human, not  _man_  enough to be an incubus. Ha, ha! Well, fine! I don't need your help. I'll just not show up tomorrow for Lizzie, get my head back, and sort this shit all out myself. There's gotta be something. The suit worked well enough for a while, so I know it can't be the only thing to keep my nature in check. I'll just find my cure elsewhere, and-"

Shea screamed at the top of her lungs. Her power rippled out from her, sending her hair flying around her as if a strong wind blew through the room. Paintings, pillows, vases, and lamps flew as she vented her rage at her stupidly stubborn brother.

"Shut up! I can't take this! You are pissing me off! Stop living in denial!" She glared at him. His blind refusal to accept himself made her want to throttle him. It was time for some tough love.

"You're going to see exactly what we are." Her magic enveloped him like a python squeezing its prey and she felt the magic of his suit weaken. She grinned. She hated that suit and it was time for it to go.

"You want this Lizzie more than anyone. You love her, crave her. I can still feel what you felt tonight. You're going to feel it again." His desire for Lizzie traveled along their entwined magic, reaching out and caressing her. Feeding off the lust, she pushed it back at him. "I know everything you feel. Now you're going to feel it again with a little boost."

The magical onslaught made his body thrum with desire and he dropped to his knees. Doubling over with a loud gasp, Fred clutched his sides, cringing and panting in desperation. He felt Lizzie as though she moved inside his soul, stoking every desire he had for her. "No! Stop! Don't do this!" Shea had complete control of his nature and he felt his suit's magic growing unstable. "I need this! You can't!"

"I will! It's time to get rid of your ugly crutch! Don't fight it!" She didn't let up. "Just stop fighting and accept it!"

"Oh god, Shea. You're such a bitch!" he ground out. His desires for Lizzie and hers for him rippled through him and he strained against it. The magic was so strong, it terrified him. Without his suit he'd be helpless against what he was again.

"I've been called worse. Now shut up and for once in your damn life listen to me!" She stood over him, amplifying the desires, not letting him stamp them out. "Stop fighting, you stubborn bastard, and let the lust fill you." She felt the offending suit's magic weaken further.

"Nooo, get a-" Fred's breath hitched and shuddered. "Ah, ffffuck," he whispered, eyes shutting as his voracious needs for Lizzie started to win out. His eyelids drooped. The heavy desire felt so good that he suddenly couldn't remember why he had been pushing it away. Breathing harder, his mouth opened, and he swore he could see Lizzie again, like he was back in the dream.

Shea smiled. "Yes, let it in. This is what you have been denying yourself. You could be like this with Lizzie and it wouldn't be a dream." She raised her brows. "She's a very quick study. I think I like this Lizzie." She nudged his desire, forcing him to experience the dream again. As she watched him struggle to resist, she noticed the edges of the green suit start to blacken. Shea grinned.  _Finally._

Fred heard Shea's voice amidst the vision playing out in his mind. The dream felt different this time, more tangible, invasive. "Sss... Ssstopp," he pleaded, but his voice couldn't reach above a whisper, a weakened, needy whisper that strained with desire. He felt Lizzie's essence again in his, beating through him like blood. It filled him with an achingly satisfying urge for more that shot into his groin, coaxing a very hard erection to rise beneath his trousers.

"Uhh..." Fred tried to hide it by curling into a ball. He wanted it to go away, but found more and more he liked the way it felt. He just wanted Lizzie to touch and consume him, and for her to let him consume her. Forever. His whole being ached and thrummed with lust that wouldn't be ignored and he felt Lizzie kissing him, her tongue searching for his, her body pressed against his... "Oh god, Lizzie..." he breathed. "I... I-" A loud, drawn out whine rolled in his throat. His resolve frayed like a thread. " _Lizzie_!"

Shea shuddered from the residual lust radiating off him. "Holy shit! I don't know if it's your feelings for her, or the fact you've been suppressing it for so long, but just this small taste is like a major high I would get from prom night." Shaking her head, she looked back at her brother. She needed to focus.

Using her magic, she boosted his lust again. The stripes of his suit started to darken, becoming an inky black. His hair darkened, too, the bright, red turning auburn. "That's right, Baby Brother, embrace your desire. Judging from that hard on you want her  _very_  badly. I've seen the dream, she wants you."

He gasped. Lizzie did want him, he felt it, and it felt too good to argue. He felt suffocated not having her. His breath grew shallower and he rolled onto his back, mirroring the position he had fallen into during the dream. He was so lost with longing, he couldn't open his eyes to break away from the visions. His erection felt like a second heartbeat against his restrictive trousers, the vibration making his ache deepen. He forgot about hiding it and his hips writhed in need. In the dream, Lizzie teased his mouth with hers and he heard her whisper his undoing.  _'I want you. I need you inside me."_ Something snapped inside him.

Fred's head rolled back and he moaned, writhing as his clothes shifted from their vibrant color. A final flash of green magic surrounded him before changing to obsidian smoke. His jacket and shirt vanished, along with his shoes, revealing his tanned skin. In another flash, his trousers went to black. "Uhh! I, I want her!" he shouted like a desperate animal, not caring anymore who heard. Hips bucking, his toes curled and his fingers dug against the ground. "I want Lizzie!" His trousers dissolved in a final swirl of smoke, leaving him bare.

Shea gasped as her brother embraced his power and changed into his true form. His lust for Lizzie hit her and she embraced it, drawing it in. Her eyes grew dark, leaving a hint of the green as she fed off the desire that rolled off him in waves. "Forget smutty novels and watching mortals have sex. This is extremely satisfying." She panted. "I think I need to find Gabriel and expel some of this excess energy." She rolled her shoulders. "You see, Brother Dearest, embracing who you are is better than fighting it."

Opening his eyes, Fred revealed his now dark orbs surrounded by a thin, glowing ring of blue. He shuddered, too intoxicated to realize he lay there naked with an erection. "You play dirty, Sis," he grumbled with a sneer, panting. "It's really not fair." His voice had slightly deepened with the release of his true self.

Shea rolled her eyes. "You're welcome. Love the voice, by the way. Incubi are just naturally sexy speakers." She winked. "You really should come home more." She paused again, cocking her head to the side. She nodded and then looked at Fred, wincing a bit. "Now, don't freak out, but we're about to have company."

"Hmm, what? Who's it now?" Fred mumbled at Shea. He lie there grinning, still caught in his lust-filled high. It felt oddly satisfying, his every sense awake and craving Lizzie. His magic and groin ached for more, to invade her as she had him. Stretching out, Fred shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He had forgotten how infectious his nature felt without restraint.

Rolling her eyes, Shea waved a hand across her body, her dress disappearing in a swirl of black smoke. "Of course, you're a satisfied mess, and I have to deal with you. Clean yourself up, Darling Brother, we have guests." She crossed her arms under her bare breasts and shook her head at him. A loud knock shook the door.

"Just a moment, dears, I have to straighten up," she called, keeping her gaze fixed on her brother. "Straighten the fuck up!" She hissed. With a careless wave, she used her magic to tidy the room of the objects that had been tossed around in her fit. She leaned over her brother, who remained in his post-coital stupor, and clapped her hands in his face. "I'm going to open that door in one minute, and if you don't get up, Lila's going to pounce on you."

Fred started, his darkened eyes flying open. "What?! Lila? Why in the hell would ya talk about her?" he cried, propping himself up. The cool flooring suddenly reached his senses and he froze. "Oh, please no... Tell me I didn't..." Slowly, he glanced down and found himself completely nude on Shea's floor with a hard on. "Ah fuck, go away!" he screamed, his hands flying to cover it. He wanted to die.

Fred glared at Shea. "You broke my suit! You broke my bloody suit! How could you do this, you, you lust witch!" Another knock sounded on the door and he jumped. "Shit, shit, shit!" Fred tried magicking another set of clothes, but his powers had paralyzed in his horror. "Oh god! This is your fault!" he cried, scrambling for the sofa. He dove behind it with a crash. Popping up, he snatched two pillows and dropped again from view. "Make them go away!" He hissed.

Shea rubbed her temples. "You're such an embarrassment," she muttered and glared at the sofa. "You have no idea what is about to rain down upon you. Lila is going to seem like a wet dream compared to this. Enter." She turned her attention to the door as it swung open. Four lilin stepped through the door, all nude.

The tallest, and the most serious of the group, gave her a curt nod. "Scheherazade," said the incubus, "you know why we are here." It was not a question.

Shea nodded. "I do. I- I'm sorry to say that my brother isn't exactly at his best at the moment." She cleared her throat. "Lorcan, kindly stand up and greet our guests. Please." The last word was strained, both a command and a plea in one.

The top of Fred's head popped up from behind the sofa, his once again blue eyes peering at the guests. Three succubi accompanied the leader and Fred gripped the pillow against his lap even tighter when he recognized one of them.

Lila.

The blonde succubus who had carried a torch for him since they were children. He had not seen her since they were teenagers, but she hadn't changed much, still busty, curvy, and eyeing him like a piece of meat. Lila winked, blowing a kiss and smiling at him.

Gasping, Fred ducked down, thankful the shock had killed his arousal. "Nope."

"Still shy after all these years, Lorky?" asked Lila.

"And still not interested," added Fred in a singsong. "And I've told you, stop calling me that gross name!"

"Lila's not here for a date," Shea said, through clenched teeth, glaring at Lila who only smiled innocently. "Get over here and stop being such an embarrassment to me and the whole family." She resisted the urge to stomp her foot. This was humiliating and she was ready to throttle him regardless of witnesses present.

"Oh, you're embarrassed? Ha, ha. That's ruddy great, Sis! I'm wearing a sodding pillow! I'm staying put. Wanna tell me what exactly the naked posse's here for before I catch cold?"

"Fucking drama queen. You should've been a girl," Shea muttered. Waving her hand, the sofa disappeared, revealing a crouching Fred, who held two pillows to his front and back. Falling on his ass, he gasped and clung to his pillows. "What a lovely, dignified picture you make. Get up and perhaps they'll explain to you the reason for their visit."

"Shea!" Fred noticed everyone's attention fell on him and he swore he didn't know how he didn't burn a hole through the ground from embarrassment. His skin crawled from the way Lila ogled him, making him wish he had a third pillow or a rock to throw at her leering eyes. It'd been bad enough growing up with that staring at him every day in school.

"Stand up," said the incubus.

Fred grimaced. They had him cornered. He had no choice.

Standing, he held onto his pillows and slouched, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt. Staring at the floor, he tried to pretend none of them saw him. "Happy? And I should  _not_  have been a girl," he mumbled.

"I agree," whispered Lila, making Fred gasp, loudly.

"You should have!" Shea cried. "This whole bloody mess might have been avoided." Shea looked at the incubus. "What are the... charges?"

Fixing his serious gaze on Fred, the incubus cleared his throat. "I will not go into the long and varied list at present, but Lorcan is to appear before the council at once so the charges can be presented. You will have representation and they will answer any questions you may have. Are you prepared to go with us now?"

"Represen- What? What is this? Am I being put on trial?" Fred's grip loosened on his pillows, nearly dropping them. "Shea? What is- Wait a sec... They know? Shea, they really do all know?"

Shea winced. "I think everybody knows by now." She gave him a pained look. "Ta da?"

Covering his face with his hands, Fred screamed. Mortals really were lucky. They could die! Now all of Lullabi knew how 'Lorcan, the Virgin Shame' finally wanted to pop his cherry and he didn't want to hear any of it! He knew what a big deal they would all make of it forever. They'd torment him for finally caving to be like the rest of them. That alone sounded like an endless nightmare. Lila would never leave him alone now.

"Oh no! No 'ta da'! You do that when you pull things outta a hat, not when the whole, bloody lot of Lullabi knows that-" His gaze shot to the incubus and he laughed. "That I've done absolutely nothing!"

"Well, something's out of the hat now!" Lila chirped, trying to peek at Fred.

Mortified, he slapped his pillows back into place and glared at her as he backed away. "Just don't," he warned.

Shea closed her eyes, rubbing the crease between her brows. "For the love of-" She growled and glared at her brother. "You, stop talking, and you-" She pointed at Lila. "Stop flirting!" She looked at the other incubus.

"Nothing he says now will be held against him, yeah?" The incubus gave her the briefest of nods. "Thank you. Lorcan..." She turned back to her brother, catching him making sneers and eye rolls at Lila. "Lorcan! Pay attention!" She growled and waited until he looked at her. "When you did nothing," she emphasized the word, adding air quotes for good measure, "you may, or  _may not have_ , broken some rules." She glared at the foursome in front of her. "You need to go with them, and for the love of carnal pleasures, do not say anything else! Nothing! Not one fucking word!"

Glancing between his sister and the foursome, Fred finally realized why there were so many succubi in the group. He had to get out of Lullabi now. There were places he was sure he could hide for a while, at least long enough to give them the slip. "Pfft! I'm not going with them! I'm innocent! Actually innocent! How can a virgin break any doing it laws?" He laughed, backing up.

Lila's smile turned into pity. "I'm sorry, Lorky, but rules are rules." Her magic snapped across the room, surrounding him. The other succubi followed, the crackle of magic filling the small space.

Shea felt tears start to come to her eyes. She had wanted her brother to come home and finally be himself, but she didn't want to see him hauled off before the council. Feeling helpless, she reached out a hand toward her brother. "Don't fight them. Just go. Please, just go."

Writhing, Fred realized he couldn't take another step and his powers had been locked. "Shea, how could you do this! I thought I could trust you!" he cried, betrayal in his eyes. He watched her for any signs that she was still the sister he remembered, the one who always protected him. He was actually scared, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. He didn't know what the council would do to him and he feared most of all that one person in particular waited for him there. "Shea?" he croaked.

Tears fell from her eyes and she wrung her hands. "Lorcan, they know. They knew before you even came home." She sniffled. "Father knows, and-" She wiped at her eyes. "It's going to be alright. It will. I promise." It was a lie; she couldn't promise him that, but she did it anyway.

Fred didn't say anything else, he couldn't. Something about the look in Shea's eyes frightened him and she had just confirmed one of his fears. He suddenly felt like a little boy again who wanted to run and hide in his sister's arms.

"We must take him now. You may meet us at the council, Scheherazade." The incubus' tone never changed.

"Very well," Shea said, her voice back to normal. "Take care of him."

"I won't hurt him," Lila said, a pout on her face. She looked over at Fred. "Better leave these here." Her magic pulled the pillows away in a swirl of black smoke, flinging them onto the floor. "All grown up, I see."

"For fuck's sake!" Shea and Fred muttered together.

"Enough. Temper yourself, Lila, or you will be removed," said the incubus. Lila responded with a long sigh. "Now move him."

"Will ya let me move my hands so I can at least cover  _some_  of my shame?" asked Fred, his face red with anger and embarrassment.

"It isn't necessary," the incubus said, turning and walking out the door.

"Sorry," Lila said, shrugging her shoulders, almost looking like she meant it. The three succubi pulled Fred along with their magic.

Reaching out with what little power he had left, Fred tapped into the fading link that remained between him and Shea.  _Please don't leave me. I need you, Sis. Help me fix-_

Their connection severed under the strain of the succubi magic as they took him out the door.

Following them, Shea stopped in the doorway. "I won't leave. I'll see you soon. Just- Be strong." She watched them take her brother away. "I'll fix this."

* * *

 


	4. Indecent Exposure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors' Notes:
> 
> zombierose3: Happy Halloween! Sorry this took so long. This is my last month of school, so I should have more time to get chapters out when it's through (both for Dark Lullaby and for Second Chances). Thanks for reading, reviewing, and waiting! And thank you to my two beta readers, Jessie and Shelby. <3
> 
> unleashthewords: I apologize for nothing! Perhaps I should apologize to Lorcan, "This is why I don't come home," aka Fred, but really it's for his own good. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let us know your thoughts. We love to hear from you!
> 
> **Disclaimers: We don't own Drop Dead Fred and are writing this purely for fun and for our readers.

 

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Indecent Exposure_

At the city's center in Lullabi, a tall, obsidian building dominated the skyline. A column of black smoke appeared over the dark, grey sidewalk, evaporating to reveal Shea. She shuddered, scowling up at the cold, unforgiving structure in front of her. Her father and many of her brothers worked here, but it wasn't exactly a happy place. There was nothing inherently wrong with the council and its ministrations of the law, but Lorcan was inside and it didn't bode well. Hurrying forward, she saw a familiar figure waiting outside the doors.

At least a head taller and leaner than most incubi, he was power and grace in one body. He had dark hair, almost as dark as Shea's, cut short on the sides and longer on the top, showing off the curl in his hair. Stepping forward as soon as he saw her, he opened his arms.

Shea ran to him and embraced him, pressing her cheek to his chest. "Gabriel, you're here," she said, eyes closed. "I thought you had to work."

"Of course I'm here. I'd do anything for you. Leo is covering for me," he answered her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "How's Lorcan?"

"Oh god, Gabe, it's bad." She sniffled, tears spilling from her eyes.

"It'll be alright, Shea," he said, hugging her tighter. "Let's go. Your mother's waiting for you."

"Oh shit. She must be a wreck," Shea said, stepping out of the circle of her lover's arms.

"She's doing alright. I do pity anyone else who crosses her path." He grinned down at her as he took her hand.

"Well, she loves you," Shea said, smiling back up at him. "I think everyone does."

They walked into the dark lobby that matched the interior. There was no need for lights in Lullabi. Lilin could see in the dark and preferred to exist in low light, if not complete darkness. Yet, a single, dim orb hovered over the entryway, illuminating a directory.

Everything else was black, sleek, and hard lines from the walls and floors to the stairs. The only exception being the huge, white, marble statue of an incubus and succubus in a torrid embrace that dominated the entryway. It was said to be the first lilin couple.

Barely giving the statue a glance, Shea looked around with disdain. "I know I say I love black, but would it kill them to have some fucking color? Red roses? A tulip?" Shea muttered as they approached the stairs.

Gabriel shook his head. "It's not that bad."

"Because you're too utilitarian to care," she murmured, wrinkling her nose at the monochromatic art on the walls. There were abstract paintings, watercolors, and portraits, but the recurring theme always sex.

"I'm taking that as a compliment." He gently tugged on her hair and Shea swatted at his hand.

Sticking out her tongue, she said, "You should. I didn't mean it as an insult. You're just practical. Lorcan would-" She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "Lorcan, would hate it."

"He'll be fine," Gabriel said, hugging her to his side. "To be honest, though, I don't know if they'll ever let him leave Lullabi again."

Shea looked at him, mouth open. "What? They'd lock him up at Mother and Father's forever?"

"I don't know. Rumors are swirling all over the place, but the consensus is it's pretty serious and the Imaginary Friends Council isn't happy." Gabriel turned with her at the top of the stairs and they continued down the shadowy halls. "I don't think he's getting his job back."

Shea waved her hand. "Who cares about his stupid job? He shouldn't be an imaginary friend to babies!" She scowled at Gabriel when he motioned for her to lower her voice. "I don't want to shush! I want my brother to not be in this mess! Yes, it's a mess of his own making, but I need to fix it!"

Taking her by the shoulders, Gabriel leaned down and looked in her eyes. "Shea, sometimes even you can't fix everything."

"But- but I have to!" A sob escaped her lips and she covered her mouth. Gasping, she blinked away tears, moving her hands to say, "I'm his big sister!" Another sob burst free and she wept hard. Gabriel pulled her close and held her in silence. Shea let go of everything, her anger, frustration, and especially her fear. He stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. Her body shuddered and her breath shook as one last tear rolled down her cheek, joining what she felt was a lake's worth of tears. She had nothing left.

Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. The warmth of Gabriel's body soothed her, and while she would have preferred doing other activities, just being in his arms was enough. "Thanks. I know I don't say it enough, but thank you for being strong when I can't be." She looked up at him.

He smiled at her and wiped a missed tear from her cheek. "You don't need to say it, but thank you all the same," he said, his voice soft. "I'll be whatever you need me to." He kissed her cheek where the tear had been.

"That's why I love you," she said, caressing his cheek. "You are… unbelievably amazing. We better go in before Mother comes out to look for me."

They walked to the double set of doors and entered a large room with a massive table facing them. Before it were several benches, parted by a central aisle. To the right, closest to the table, paced a short, curvy woman. Her long, dark hair whipped around each time she turned.

"At least Mother's not strangling anyone," Shea murmured. Gabriel pinched her behind and Shea yelped. "Stop it!"

Shea's mother stopped in her tracks, saw her, and hurried over. She could have been Shea's twin, but for her blue eyes and the cosmetic choice to streak white through her hair.

"Thanks, Jerk," Shea muttered, but Gabriel merely smiled and waved at the approaching anxious woman.

"Scheherazade! Where have you been?" She took her daughter's face in both hands and checked her over. "I know you love Gabriel, but couldn't sex wait until after this travesty?" She smiled and nodded his way. "Hello, Gabriel. I'm glad you're here. You can keep my wayward daughter from running off again."

Gabriel grinned. "Hello, Calliope. I'll do my best."

Shea huffed and gently removed her mother's hands from her face. "Mother, calm down. Gabe and I did not indulge in sweaty fantasies, thank you. And I'm not wayward. I came straight here. He met me outside." She looked at him for a moment and smiled. Turning back to her mother, she sighed. "I had to wait for them to get... Lorcan."

"Oh, my baby! What is happening to him? Did they hurt him? How did he look?" She pressed her hands to her chest and looked around the room. "Where is your father? He said he would be here and I have not had a word from him since he flitted off!"

"One thing at a time, Mother. They're bringing him here. He looked… fine." Shea smiled, widely. Thinking of the ruined suit and how her brother finally looked like an incubus gave her some comfort. "He looked fine and naked when he left." When her mother's brows rose, Shea waved off her impending question. "I'm sure Father's looking into things. He's probably bellowing at someone and making them cry. You know he isn't one to sit idle. Especially when it comes to Lorcan. I can only imagine how mad he must be…" Shea looked over at Gabriel, who kept a politely blank expression on his face.

"Oh, he's all bluster!" Calliope paced the aisle again. "He just wants this smoothed over as quickly as possible!"

"All bluster?" Shea frowned at her. "He nearly knocked the house over when he heard about Lorcan and the s-" She checked the room. Only a few other lilin sat on the far side. Shea stepped closer to her mother. "Father almost took out the neighborhood after Lorcan took that awful suit!"

"He did not! He was…" Calliope cringed at her daughter's incredulous look. "Yes, he was upset, but it's understandable."

"Mother, we couldn't say Lorcan's name for months for fear that Father would lose it!" She raised a brow.

"Your father doesn't  _lose it_ , Scheherazade!" Calliope placed her hands on her hips and scowled at her daughter, who mirrored her expression. "When-" Calliope gasped, her gaze roaming the room as she suddenly tilted her head. "Where are you?" she said through clenched teeth.

"Mother-" Shea was almost slapped by Calliope's wildly waving hand. She sighed.

"Andras! You need to get over here!" Calliope's loud voice drew the attention of the other lilin in the room.

"Stop talking out loud!" Shea hissed. Her mother rolled her eyes, but did as her daughter asked. Gabriel swooped in and pinched Shea's ass again, making her yelp. She turned and glared, but he only leaned down and kissed her nose.

"You're lucky I'm insanely in love with you or you'd be on that floor," she said, holding her glare.

"Sex in the council room would be a new one," Gabriel said, raising his brows.

Shea tried maintaining her scowl, but the suggestive thoughts Gabriel sent her made her laugh. "You're impossible."

"But you love it." He took her hand and kissed her palm. Shea rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Scheherazade!" her mother whispered, loudly.

Shea flashed a pleading look at Gabriel, took a deep breath, and faced her mother with a smile. "Yes, Mother Dearest?"

"Your father's talking to some people and he's going to have a word with Lorcan's lawyer and then he'll join us. Come sit down." She walked toward the front row.

Gabriel rubbed Shea's shoulders, helping her slowly relax. "Thank you, Darling. This debacle is going to leave me in knots."

Kissing her temple, Gabriel laughed. "I'll be happy to help you work those out."

She turned and looked up at him, smiling as she ran a hand along his jaw. "I know you will. I'm looking forward to it."

"Scheherazade!" Calliope hissed. "Come sit down!"

Shea rolled her eyes at Gabriel. "Coming, Mother." They both walked over and joined Calliope in wait for Shea's father and the trial to begin.

* * *

Fred waited inside the dimly lit room where the succubi guards had left him. Lila had lingered a while, offering her companionship and the promise to make an incubus out of him so the council might be lenient with him. Like a man possessed, he'd backed against the far corner and shielded his bits with the nearest chair. He didn't remember shouting, but apparently he had been so loud the succubi guards rushed back into the room. An embarrassed Lila had rescinded her offer and apologized, but not without asking him to think it over. He must have blacked out after that because again he didn't remember a word he said, only that Lila promised they'd speak once he'd calmed down.

When they'd gone, Fred kept to the corner, protectively holding onto his chair. No one would make him move from this spot and if another succubus came through that door he would do something so foul they'd be put off sex for a week.  _That oughta keep me safe_ , he thought, but as he waited time seemed to crawl.

 _What's taking them so long to give me any answers?_  Fred reached out for Shea's mind, but some sort of interference kept his ability confined to the room. "Ugh! This is ridiculous! Why're they treating me like I'm some kind of monster-"

Fred paled and a terrible thought entered his mind. "Oh god… Did I hurt my Snotface?"

The door opened and a tall, dark-skinned succubus entered. Her black hair, cut close to her scalp, showed off her finely sculpted features. Like everyone else Fred had encountered, she wore a serious expression and no clothes. In her hands were several sheets of paper. She nodded at him in silence, her brown eyes squinting as she appraised him. A moment passed before a small smile emerged on her lips.

"Hello, Lorcan. I'm Felicia and I'll be your representative during this trial. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

"Yeah. Can we both get dressed?" he asked, trying to keep his eyes on the wall beside him. "And it's Fred, thanks. I don't go by Lorcan anymore."

Her smile faded and she stared at him. "Humor isn't going to help you right now. And your name is officially Lorcan. Do you have any real questions, or should I start with the charges against you?" Her voice had the hint of warning in it and the look she gave him matched. Fred rolled his eyes.

"I was being bloody serious for once, and my name's still Fred." He should have known better, though, because everyone in Lullabi had no concept of how to cover their bits and pieces. His chosen name also left a bad taste in their mouths because they considered it common and human. "Hey, wait. About those charges, Lizzie's not hurt, is she?"

"What exactly would clothes do for you? Give you a sense of modesty? Would they help these charges vanish? And yes, there are many, and some I have never heard of." She raised a brow at him and then glanced down at the papers. "You stole a magic… suit from the leprechauns? You're really going to make this difficult, aren't you?" She sat down in the chair on her side of the table. "Will you please sit? You're making me feel anxious."

"Okay. I don't see how we can play well together if you can't get why I need some clothes. Also, I don't know what you're talking about! I've got no suit, as you can clearly see. Although, those leprechauns are snarling lil' bastards. One of 'em bit me…" Fred flexed his hand, staring at the place he'd been nipped all those years ago. "Anyways, no, I'm not sitting down. Not without some clothes. Do you have any idea who's sat there? Everyone's starkers! I'm not touching anything. Who knows what that chair's seen! Now, I want some trousers, and I want my question answered about Lizzie." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You said I can ask anything I want."

Felicia slowly inhaled, waited, and let out a long breath. "Do you think this is a game? I'm not an imaginary friend and I'm not here to play. I am here to help you during this trial." She turned her hard stare back to the papers. "I have several documents alluding to a magic, green suit, and I very much doubt that you never had it. You seem to know a lot about leprechauns and their bites. Are you still going to deny it?"

Fred tucked his hand under his arm. "I asked a very serious question, not seeing how that's a game. I'm lots more fun than that," he muttered. "So, come on. Can't ya crack open those magic files and tell me? Is she alright? I'm not answering anything until I know." Fred held a steady gaze with Felicia, fighting his urge to snatch her files and look for himself.

Watching him, she tapped one finger on the table. "I would urge you to be more cooperative with the person who is trying to help you. You're the one who engaged in unauthorized sexual acts with a mortal. Are you honestly telling me you have no idea what effect that had on the aforementioned mortal?"

"Of course I know!" He cringed at the way Felicia described his encounter with Lizzie. "But I'm asking about the after effects…" He wrung his hands. "Please. She's not just a mortal; she's my best friend. Is she safe and unharmed from… from what I took? Not insane or anything? I, I need to know first." Fred's desperation for an answer shone through as he watched Felicia. Nothing else mattered until he heard. He'd never taken that amount of desire off a mortal before and didn't know the limit. "Please."

Felicia studied him in silence, taking in his face and body language. The reports on him were enlightening. If it hadn't come from O.L.A., she would have said someone had a strange sense of humor, but all of it was true. Sitting in front of the subject of her report, she could now see everything for herself. He seemed a complete prude for a lilin, but he was remarkably sensitive, and his worry surprising. The reports had mentioned the mortal, who had been his former charge, but there seemed to be more to it than that.

Feeling sympathy, she answered his question. "There are no charges involving the maiming, or otherwise harming of a lilin, or mortal."

"Oh, thank god!" Fred sank back against the wall and exhaled, loudly. It felt like all the air had returned to the room. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he'd hurt her. He would have starved himself until death. Shutting his eyes, Fred's tensions turned into a manic chuckle he couldn't stop. He wiped his eyes, his body trembling. Lizzie was safe. She'd probably never speak to him again, but she was safe. "Thank you," he whispered, looking back at Felicia, suddenly calmed.

Her brows rose at his laughter. His relief had made him giddy. She would have to confer with the examiner later and make sure he was of sound mind, just in case. She folded her hands on the table. "You're welcome. I hope that earns me a little good will. Would you like to sit so we can discuss your case?"

Fred eyed the chair waiting across the table from Felicia, acutely aware of his nakedness once more, but he had made a deal.

Holding his head high, he gripped the back of the chair in front of him and carried it as he walked over. Dropping it at the table, he covered himself with his hands and slipped into the seat. "Alright," he said, scooting forward until the table touched his abdomen, "I'm listening. Let's talk. Why am I here if it's not for that, and how long 'til I can get outta here?" He couldn't imagine anything worse than what he'd thought he'd been arrested for, so this couldn't be that serious.

She smiled, relieved they were making some progress, but it faltered when she saw he wasn't fully grasping his situation. "Lorcan, this isn't a little slap on the hand. This is serious. As in you are going before the council and everything you have ever done is going to be brought up and gone over with a microscope."

He stared at her, the words repeating in his mind because none of it made any sense. "What? Why?" His hands smacked on the table and he leaned forward, fear making his thoughts run. "What's the council so interested in me for? Isn't this what those perverts have wanted of me for almost three hundred years?"

She sighed. "There are rules. We have rules for a reason." Leaning forward, her voice grew louder. "You just freaked out because you thought you hurt someone! You violated I don't know how many rules in just that one area alone!" She sat back, sighing again. "You've broken so many rules they aren't going to let this slide."

Fred drew back in his seat, fighting the urge to say something just to piss her off. It was his go to reaction whenever something upset him. It took the pressure and the focus off himself, but despite everything, Felicia was his one hope of getting out of here.

Fred still remembered the council and their leering, disapproving eyes when he'd refused to go through his rite of passage into working as an incubus, and again when he'd taken the suit. The third time had been when the suit's magic had faded enough that he'd needed to start feeding. He recalled their hopeful smiles and warnings that the day would come when he couldn't run anymore from himself. He'd laughed in their faces and avoided them until this day because he knew they waited to cast their one, unanimous decision that would take away the life he wanted. Was that to be today?

"But what I did was an accident!" he cried, his voice quaking. Fred grimaced. He hadn't meant to shout. Shea was right, he was all over the place and feeding from Lizzie had made him so much worse.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened in his chair and tried to feign some confidence, but his fingers drummed on the table. "What rules exactly are they gettin' all bothered about?" He spoke quieter than he intended. "I- I don't have the suit anymore."

"You know that you are supposed to feed at regular intervals and with supervision. The council made this perfectly clear. You have limited contact with mortal females for a reason. You violated the terms of the agreement…" She frowned, not wanting to look at his face when she told him the rest.

"But I have met up! I have every time! I even just fed last night. Ask my brother, Remy. He's always my supervisor."

"I understand, and it's noted that you have been following procedure… until now."

"Ugh! Because tonight wasn't a feeding! It was- Tonight was just... unexpected. I wasn't even hungry when I went to see her."

She took a deep breath. "You still fed from a mortal and it was unsanctioned and unsupervised. Not to mention that you ran off, went to a motel, and fed off more mortals. It doesn't matter what your state. They're going to throw the book at you, so to speak."

"But… but I don't want the book," he mumbled, sinking down in his chair. Reality suddenly reached his addled mind and he struggled keeping his breath steady. He'd forgotten about the motel. "It, well it- Fuck!" He gasped. "Look, I swear I only fed off that many so my powers took less from each of 'em. I, I didn't wanna hurt anyone! That's why I spread it out. I-" He couldn't get out of this one, could he? They finally had him right where they wanted him. "Isn't there anything you can do? It's never happened before, and I'm sure it won't again. A fluke, really."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can't. There are no exceptions with the council. All I can do is try to lessen the consequences. I'm afraid at the very least you won't be an imaginary friend anymore." She winced and her words struck Fred so hard he went numb.

He wouldn't be an imaginary friend anymore? This couldn't be real. That life was practically all he knew. He'd been an imaginary friend longer than he'd lived in Lullabi. He lived and breathed it. The council wouldn't take the one thing he'd ever loved doing. Would they?

_Of course they will._

Fred shook his head, his gaze erratic as he tried holding himself together. He suddenly felt like throwing the table across the room and smashing it to bits. What if they barred him from the mortal realm, too? Forced him to work as an incubus, or to never see Lizzie again? Would that sever their link?

"Why? I…" He breathed harder, the idea of an eternity without Lizzie and never sensing her again too much to bear. It was so strong, he couldn't even mention it aloud yet. "But I'm an imaginary friend! It's what I do. I'm no good as an incubus. Please, I have to stay in the mortal realm. I can't leave her!" His eyes widened as he realized what he'd said and he desperately added, "I mean, I can't leave  _there_  yet."

Felicia felt his pain and panic and sympathized. She had been in his metaphorical shoes, having her job on the line, and it had not been a wonderful experience. As Fred's ramblings wound down, she noticed his slip of the tongue and her brows rose in surprise.

"I'm sorry, but there's no way the council will let you continue being an imaginary friend. You broke so many laws the I.F.C. are screaming for your head, but the lilin council is keeping them calm. For now." She scanned her papers. "So, you'll have to have sex with a succubus, or be put to work in some mundane job, like making sure the streets are clean, so they can keep you far from mortals." Fred made a face, but his panic remained etched on his face. She tilted her head and pursed her lips. After Fred's slip, she wanted to see what he really thought of the mortal.

"You know, if you can't be a proper incubus someone else will get the job and visit Lizzie. She fits our clientele. It'll be another incubus having sex with her. I mean, I enjoy my job, but having sex with a beautiful woman is a damn, good job to have. I get the best of both worlds." She smiled at him. "Representing lilin in matters of the law and making love to a gorgeous creature like my wife… Yes, I have it good. So will whoever gets assigned Lizzie." She made a show of looking shocked. "What if it's one of your brothers?"

"What?" Fred stood up so fast his chair shot back and hit the wall. All nakedness forgotten, he slammed his hands on the table and growled. Felicia jerked, surprised by his outburst. "Why would anyone be assigned to her? She's m- Who is it? Which brother? It's not Remy, is it?"

Mouth hanging open, Felicia stared at Fred's wild eyes. "Um, no, no it's not Remy." Collecting herself, she smiled. "Would it bother you if Remy was assigned to Lizzie?"

Fred gaped at her incredulously, trying not to think about what she said, but the thought of Lizzie with Remy... "Fuck that! Like I'm gonna let him, or anyone get anywhere near my Lizzie! I'll rip his head off! I'll stamp and spit on it and then I'll smash it!" His emotions pulled in every direction, reigniting the overwhelming essence of Lizzie that possessed him. Lust rolled through him and he whined, kicking the chair as he paced. "I know what she needs and it's not some dream romp with just anyone! She's worth more than that! I'm the one that lo- Ugh!" Pulling at his hair, he paced faster. This was a nightmare and he couldn't stop shaking.

Biting back a smile, Felicia laughed, softly. "So you would be bothered. I was so sure you had just finally lost your self control and succumbed to your nature, everyone was, but you love her and you can't fight those feelings." She shook her head. "Well, fuck me, things are finally looking up."

Fred spun around. "Wait, what?" He couldn't close his mouth. His ears burned. "Where are you getting that? I never said anything about… about  _love_." He sneered and lifted his chin. "Pfft!"

Seeing his awkward display at being caught, Felicia tried her best to hide her amusement. His half-hearted sneer almost did her in and she took a moment to make sure she could reply without laughing. "Lorcan, I know. It's written all over your face. Don't ever play poker, by the way. I don't know why you're so embarrassed. It's a good thing. It's great, actually. If you're in love, then this can help you."

"I'm not embarrassed!" he cried, but he felt his face betray him again with a blush. He groaned, wishing more than ever he had his jacket back if only to shrink into it and hide. Smashing something also ranked high on his list.

Blushing harder, he grabbed the chair and shuffled back to the table. He wasn't embarrassed or ashamed to love Lizzie, but anyone in Lullabi knowing about it made him want to kick them all and run away.

Sighing, he dropped into the chair and looked at Felicia. "And I'm great at poker," he said.  _Of course it's always been against children under ten…_  "Hey, wait a minute…" His eyes widened. "Did you just trick me into revealing my- That I have feelings?"

"Trick sounds so underhanded. I prefer 'helped you voice your feelings.'" She smiled. "It's not the end of the world." When he looked less than convinced, she rolled her eyes. "You need to come to terms with your feelings, because it's going to be part of your defense."

"I have come to terms. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have gone back to her." He fidgeted and leaned closer to Felicia, lowering his voice. "Alright, yes. I love and adore her, and obviously am a gigantic mess for it. But I just don't want all of Lullabi laughing and saying 'I told you so.' Or, 'Look at Lorcan, the big girl! Bet he wants to do it now!'" He made a face, picturing his brothers Castor and Adrian as the first in line. "Haven't you met my family? They never let go of anything! I'll be hearing about this for eternity!" he hissed in desperation. "They're why I don't come home, you know. How are my feelings gonna help with this?"

Smiling at Fred's admission of love, she had to keep herself from cheering. From everything she had read, she knew he wasn't the most forthcoming kind, at least when it came to his own feelings. Reading about the things he had said to the council had made her raise her brows. He was not shy about telling people where they could stick things and she winced when he mentioned being mocked. She knew from the report that he was no stranger to it.

"Look, I don't believe anyone should be mocked for their feelings, but yours will be scrutinized. I just wanted to warn you. Especially because you love a mortal and because you're… you." She waved a hand as she offered an apologetic smile.

Fred studied her, surprised and touched by her understanding. "Thanks," he said, "but are you sure just pleading insanity won't be faster? I can be very convincing." He smiled.

"No. I don't win my cases by using half-baked excuses." She crossed her arms. "No matter how convincing my client is."

"Well, I've been a professional at crazy for almost three centuries now," he added with a shrug, but worry knotted inside him. He knew exactly where this led. Felicia would announce his feelings to the council in front of everyone and they'd want every detail. He practically heard his brothers' taunts already, especially Castor. He had always been the worst of his brothers, particularly when it came to his love of the human world. He'd certainly pounce if he knew he'd gone and fallen in love with one of them.

"Seriously though, I'm still not getting how this helps. I know I've been gone a while, but isn't it still a huge no-no for a lilin and mortal to fall head over heels mad for one another?"

Felicia wrinkled her nose. "I think you're getting a little ahead of things, Romeo." She sighed. "It helps because it shows you didn't just lose control and you're not a half-cocked incubus waiting to go off. Your love for your mortal kicked your powers into overdrive." She gave him a small smile. "Also, we don't know how she feels, do we? An admission from her would be helpful." She studied Fred. "Does she actually know that you're in love with her? Did you tell her?" She was dying of curiosity, because clearly this was not in the files.

"Hang on a snotting tick! Overdrive?" His jaw dropped and he felt somewhere between laughing and screaming. He'd realized immediately that despite his suit his feelings for her had awakened his nature, but he'd never considered why it was so strong. He'd thought it was normal. For six months he'd been absolutely out of his head, and terrified he was turning into his worst nightmare: a sex-crazed demon, enslaved by his nature. His feedings had increased since he'd fallen for her and he hadn't spent a night not wanking himself blind in shame.  _But it's all because of… love?_

"That… that Snotface! I knew it was something to do with her! Fuck, it makes perfect sense. I've been in control at every feeding. Remy's had naked women revved up right in front of me, but none of 'em affected me like her. This is her fault. Her and her big, brown eyes and that, that face!"  _And her perfect everything else._  "Ugh!" Fred dramatically threw his head back, then dropped it face first on the table, hiding in the circle of his arms with a thud.

Felicia reached out and patted his arm. "Love is like a smack to the face with a sledgehammer." She sighed, shaking her head at his despair. "Why didn't you come home, or tell your supervisor, I mean your brother? You might have saved yourself a lot of… trouble." She bit back a laugh, not wanting to mock him when he was down.

Fred lifted his head just enough to peek at her with one eye open.  _Sledgehammer? A firetruck packs less of a punch._ He sat up and slumped forward with his elbows on the table. Felicia looked so genuinely sympathetic it surprised him, making his guard lower even more. The gravity of his situation had squelched his ability to fight any longer. He knew he needed help, besides, Felicia maybe wasn't so bad.

"Because… I think he already knew and there was no way I was gonna admit it!" he grumbled. "I thought it'd go away if I waited it out, not cause, well,  _this_." He waved his hands at himself.

Her jaw dropped. She couldn't help it; he had stunned her. "It would... go away if you... waited it out?" The question hung in the air between them like smoke. She stared at him. She couldn't think, no other thought would come to her.

"Well, yeah. I…" He sighed. "Look, I'm new to this! I didn't know how love worked, not this type! All I've done is work with kids, not written sonnets and plotted how to give someone the moon." He flushed, embarrassed by his lack of understanding in this area.

Felicia blinked, her brain slowly churning back to life. "I- Uh- I'm sorry." She held up a finger as she tried organizing her thoughts. "Bacchus' balls, you are an anomaly." Rubbing her eyes, she tried to fathom it all. "You weren't supposed to go near her, but then when you realized you were in love with her… you went to see her? To tell her?" Her voice rose an octave at the last word.

"Because she haunted me day and night!" he cried. "My charge's best friend's named Elizabeth! I can't even make mud pies because it reminds me of her eyes! Jessica's mother wears a perfume that makes me think of her. I see her when I close my eyes. I even think I hear her in my sleep. It's bloody hard to leave someone when they stalk you! The final kick was when Jessica was out with her parents at some rotten and horribly dull restaurant last night and I fucking saw Lizzie with her ex-husband signing off on their divorce papers. I couldn't do it anymore! I had to tell her. I figured it was some sort of sign that maybe…" Fred couldn't say the rest. He'd never been one to believe in romance and fate, or all that happily-ever-after muck, but after leaving Lizzie behind he'd almost grown obsessed with the idea that she and him could belong together.

Felicia looked at his wide eyes. He seemed like a man on the edge and she placed her hands on the table and folded them. "It sounds like you have it very bad. Love can push you past your limits sometimes." She smiled. "Your love won out. You decided, well, maybe the Fates decided, that you couldn't be without her any longer." She sighed. "I just wish you would have done it differently. I suppose it's moot now. Time to deal with the mess and the council. You're sure that Remy didn't know about your feelings for Lizzie? It's important. Especially for him."

Fred cocked his head. The Fates. Would they really have driven him insane just so he'd make a move? Maybe he wasn't as crazy as he thought hoping he and Lizzie were meant to be... "Remy never outright said. Just asked me loads of questions. Nagged me 'bout comin' home. Asked me lots about Lizzie, too, but I never admitted a thing. So, if he knows it's not because it came outta my mouth." He frowned. "Why? Is what I did gonna hurt him somehow?"

"Well, at least that can't be used against him," she muttered, thankful for small mercies. "Listen, I know you did your adolescent run away from home bit, but did you never pay attention to anything in Lullabi?" Her look showed her skepticism. "I don't know where to start. As for your brother… hopefully, they just decide to give him a warning." She bit her lip as she thought things over, but Fred rolled his eyes.

"I paid attention to enough to learn I didn't want to learn anymore about anything here," he said, but his thoughts turned to his brother. "He didn't know. I'll vouch for him," he added, quietly. "He's done everything right by their standards. He warned me all the time to stay away from her."

She ran her hands over her face. "You sure like to make things difficult for yourself. So, he warned you… as your supervisor and your brother and you still didn't listen? Do you think you're above the rules or something?"

"No. I just believe in smashing things until they work right." He shrugged. "Plus, I'm a stubborn bastard." His smile briefly sparked with mischief until he added, "Obviously it backfires sometimes."

"This isn't a radio or a toaster, Lorcan," she said, fighting to keep her voice calm. "There's rules for a reason- Bacchus, help me, I'm repeating myself." She groaned. "You throw everything into chaos is what I read. I'm experiencing it firsthand. I need to go over these charges and think about what we're going to say to the council." Her eyes widened. "You will be on your best behavior in there, right? You're not gonna smash something in there, or moon the council?" Her face paled at the thought, sure he would swear to flip tables and tell the council how they could go fuck themselves.

Fred laughed. He couldn't help it. Felicia's terrified look reminded him exactly of Lizzie's when he'd come crashing back into her life. The connection made his face fall blank.  _Can I go one minute without thinking of her?_  "Sounds like you read about my last meeting with those blowhards. I'll be good. Promise. I don't really feel like myself right now anyway," he mumbled. The connection to Lizzie had finally calmed, but something felt different inside him and he couldn't pinpoint why. He only knew he didn't like it.

Still cringing from his laughter, Felicia almost fell out of her chair when he promised to be good. She frowned. "Are you screwing with me, because I cannot take it right now."

Her response hit a nerve as Fred realized he'd just promised to behave himself. Him, Drop Dead Fred, had promised to be on his best behavior to the most obnoxious cluster of perverts in the universe.  _What's the matter with me?_  His jaw clenched. He'd prove that he was still Drop Dead Fred with or without that suit. "No. Not yet." He smirked. "Unless… would ya prefer I wave my bits about and perform a puppet show with 'em? I can do great voices. Sounds a lot less boring."

Felicia's jaw dropped and she nearly begged him to reconsider when she remembered that he had been hiding in the corner with a chair in front of him when they'd first met. She glared at him through slitted eyes. Was this more of his imaginary friend nonsense? Could she call his bluff?

Leaning back in her chair, she grinned. "Well, I believe that no sexual acts have ever occurred in the council room. We could have your ceremony in there first thing. Sex with Lila."

Fred screamed, falling over backwards in his chair. "Ah! No! Are you crazy?" he cried, kicking his legs as he rolled and crawled back to his corner. "I'm not touching her! You, you keep her away from me! I'm not having any-" He tucked his knees to his chest and frantically waved his hands. "I'm not having it off in  _there_! Not with, with  _her_!"

Slapping her hands over her mouth, she fought to keep her laughter in, but it was useless. Doubling over, her giggle escalated into uproarious laughter and an unladylike snort. Tears built in her eyes and she waved her hand at Fred, barely able to speak. "I- I'm-" She laughed harder.

"Stop laughing! She wants to have sex with me!" he shouted, pale and pressing into his corner.

Felicia could only cackle. She fanned her face, trying to dry the tears. Falling back in her seat, she took a deep breath. "Oh, Aphrodite's tits! I have not laughed that hard in ages." She wiped her eyes. "Get over here."

Fred's eyes widened and he shook his head like it was having a seizure. "No! I don't wanna hear, or think about anyone's tits!" He covered his ears.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head, waiting for him to stop cowering in the corner. "I'm sorry I, uh, traumatized you. I didn't realize you had a Lila phobia. Will you come back, please? We got a little off topic."

Fred watched her, unsure if he should trust her not to throw him under Lila. Just the thought made him squirm. Maybe he should be on his best behavior if he didn't want that to happen to him. "Yeah. Sure," he said, getting up and covering himself as he walked over to his chair. He uprighted it, and sat back down. "Truce?" Out of habit, he held out his pinky and grinned.

Felicia smiled back, glad he was willing to return and talk, but when he offered a truce and his pinky, she blinked. She had never done anything like this before. It seemed so very human, and so like Fred, that it made her smile. Hooking his pinky with hers, she laughed. "Truce."

Fred chuckled, his relief pouring into every tensed muscle and relaxing him. "Great. So… what's next? Round of Twenty-One Questions?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I don't think Twenty-One Questions would cover it," she said, looking through her papers. "So… the first few charges actually go back almost three centuries. They are being brought up…" She paused, reading the page in her hand. "...because they show a precedent with you. You stole property, violated treaty agreements, and assaulted foreign parties. They demand the return of their property and restitution." She looked back up. "Do you have anything you wish to add?"

"Hang on. Restitution? You're talking 'bout those tiny buggers, aren't you? Are they here?" Fred knocked his chair back and rushed for the door, peering out its small window. "Where are they?" His head darted side to side and up and down, trying to get a better angle.

"Lorcan, I have thirty-eight charges to go over with you and not a lot of time to do it in." She pointed at the chair. "Can you please sit?"

"Wait. Thirty…  _eight_?" His eyes widened and he stepped closer. "Is this… is this a joke?"

Felicia cleared her throat. "While I do feel like I have a great sense of humor, my wife says I'm not very funny. This isn't a joke." She drummed her fingers on the table.

Holding his head, Fred slowly reached out for his chair and fell onto it. "Thirty-eight… Three centur- Resti- What? Will you please stop using all this fancy mumbo jumbo and just spit it out? What is all this?"

She sighed. "A long, long time ago you entered Ireland like a bad boy, stole a suit, and hit some tiny men. Sound familiar?"

Fred straightened in his seat, glancing down at his naked form. "No. Must've left it in my other pocket," he answered, glancing at Felicia, but the way she stared at him made it hard for him to hold his composure. What would the council do to him if he confessed he'd taken the suit and now didn't have it anymore? If they locked him up forever he'd never see Lizzie again and he'd never be able to tell her why. She'd just think he'd left her forever, again, and the thought of never seeing her face again terrified him. He groaned. "Alright, yes, it's familiar, but I don't have their laundry anymore. Okay? My sister broke it!"

"So, you did have it, but it's… gone?" Felicia had never heard of magical suits breaking. She had never actually seen a magic suit or anything like it. It was all outside her area; her expertise was the law.

"Ugh! Yes! Shea found its weakness. She amped me up on Lizzie lust and smashed it to bits. Grinning, I might add! Absolutely no shame. Completely unrepentant! My poor, poor suit who never did anything to anyone ever! Gone! Like that!" He snapped his fingers. "It turned all black and next thing I knew I was exposed, cold, and destitute on the rug! I'm the one that should demand restitution."

Clearing her throat, Felicia looked down and busied herself with her papers until she was sure she could hide her smile. When she lifted her head, she tried to appear sympathetic. "Uh, that's too bad. So very sad." Coughing to conceal her laughter, she hid another smile behind her hand.

"Um, as I said earlier," she continued, "it might have helped smooth things over if you could have just handed it back. I'll have to figure something out. I don't know what kind of restitution they'll want... There's no gold in Lullabi, or beer. Is that stereotyping?" She muttered the last part as she drummed her fingers on the table. "We'll at least inform them that you were planning on turning it over, but an unfortunate excess of power rendered it inert." She grimaced. "That sounds a little iffy even to me. I may need to work on that."

"Iffy? Pfft! Well, part of that's true." He sulked, staring at his fingers. He recalled how his green magic had returned to its natural, black smoke and how much more he'd craved Lizzie. "I'm cold without that suit and-" He took a deep breath, feeling his nature waking up at the memories. She'd wanted him so much, more than he'd ever expected, and the sound of her voice telling him so remained as vivid as the feel of her touching him. "Well, it just feels weird." If he didn't talk about it, it had to die back down and stop ruining everything for him.

One corner of Felicia's mouth went up at his pouting. "I know you had your alleged ill-gotten gains for a long time," she said, adding a wink, "but I think it's good you don't have it anymore." She paused, feeling the hints of lust stirring within him. "It has to be better without it. Don't you want to be with Lizzie for real? You can't have that by pretending to be an imaginary friend and babysitter." Tilting her head, she studied him. "We're not evil, you know. There's nothing to be ashamed of. If she loves you, she'll love you for who you are."

Fred didn't move, but his face reddened and his jaw clenched because he knew that Felicia could feel him.  _This is exactly why I don't come home_ , he thought. Of course he wanted that with Lizzie, but he feared saying it aloud right now would make him explode. Thanks to Shea his nature felt even stronger without his suit. It seemed he could barely think about Lizzie now without fighting off his desires. His fingers slowly curled over the table and he was thankful he at least had it to hide beneath should his desires continue to rise.

"Um, I don't think I wanna get into it," he said, keeping a tight gaze on the table and counting the lines in the wood.

"I know this is difficult," she said, her voice low. "You've had the suit for so long and this is new for you. You don't have the suit's powers anymore. It has to feel strange, but hopefully it'll feel better soon. You'll get used to being a regular incubus in time and it won't be so awkward." She smiled, even though he kept looking down and dug his nails harder against the table.

 _Awkward's definitely not what I'm feeling_ , he thought, taking a deep breath.  _And I'll never get used to this. An eternity walking around on high alert, dreading the times my prick pops up like a snake in the grass for all to see!_

"I wish I could say something profound that would help you, but I suppose all I have are platitudes. Listen, if you ever need to talk, my door is always open. In case talking to your family is driving you crazy, ya know."

"Thanks. I'd like that," he said, glancing up at her.

"I have to confess that I heard about you from your father." She waited, wondering how he might react.

"Wait. You know my father?" He stared at her with surprise and a small smile graced her lips.

"Yes… he told me things between you two have been difficult…"

His eyebrow quirked at her remark. "You could say that," he said, guessing he knew exactly what his father had said about him. In almost three centuries he hadn't forgotten any of their last several exchanges, or the throbbing vein in his father's neck when he'd seen him in that suit. Or his mother's face over the things they had said to one another...

Biting her lip, Felicia's brows furrowed. "I, uh, want you to know that he's the reason I'm here. He asked for me to help you and I will." She said the latter with firmness. "No matter what my reasons are for being here, I am here to do my job, and that is to do my best for you."

"Well, it's nice to have help," he replied, leaning forward and studying Felicia. "Um, so…" He pointed at her, still processing what she'd told him about his father. "My father… hired… you?" he asked. "For me?" Out of everything that had happened to him tonight, this sounded like the most ridiculous and unbelievable part of all. "Are you sure it's not so he can get me off the hook and kill me himself when this is all through?" He laughed nervously, but he was half-serious.

Felicia nodded. "Yes, he came to see me once he knew you were back. He's very connected, and with your brothers' jobs, he knows everything that goes on. Your, um, apprehension and trial were inevitable, so he asked me to help. He warned me it would be a daunting task." She laughed. "I normally never turn away a challenge, and this is going to be my most challenging trial yet."

Fred's confusion worsened. His father, the man who had disowned him, had hired a lawyer to help him fix the biggest mess of his life? Why? An annoying hope nagged at him to believe his father didn't despise him after all, but he shook it off. He might be crazy, but he wasn't delusional.

"This is beyond anything I have done, but the aftermath could be huge," said Felicia. "New laws could be written." She grinned. "Sorry, I'm a bit of a law nerd, you could say. Long story short, I'm here and I need you to work with me."

"This isn't exactly how I wanted to make history." His imagination leapt to a future with him in the lead of a cautionary tale about staying a virgin and dabbling with leprechauns. His brother, Dante, would probably teach a class at school to young lilin about it, too. ' _Don't be a prude. It makes you steal tiny trousers and before you know it you're in a motel that's crawling with V.D. and you're causing an orgy. And not even a good orgy. Sad, really. Lorcan, the Virgin Shame cocked that up, too and he's still a virgin!'_  Fred's face heated as he imagined the laughter of all the children with his brother leading the chorus.

"Now, let's start at the beginning," said Felicia, her words cutting through his waking nightmare and making him jump. "Ireland," she added. "Explain as thoroughly as you can."

Straightening, Fred ran his hands through his hair and exhaled. He'd never been more grateful for an interruption.  _That was just fucking weird_.

"There's not much to tell," he admitted. "I was nearing my rite of passage and I heard they wanted to pair me with Lila, who I really, sorely didn't wanna do. Ugh! I didn't wanna do any of..." He waved his hand and grimaced, looking about the room. Erotic art hung on the walls just like it did throughout all corners of Lullabi. "...Didn't wanna do any of what we're supposed to do. I wanted more, and I wasn't gonna be forced into it. Or  _her_." His expression soured again. "The suit, I  _heard_ , was a way out so I could live on my terms, and it worked great."

"Okay, you didn't want to do your ceremony and you just hightailed it out of Lullabi?" She raised a brow, surprised by this even though it was in the report. "Did you talk about this with anyone? Why did you think a suit would solve your problems?"

"No, course I didn't tell anyone! And I didn't think it would help, I knew it would. One of the whatsits, um, the Fates said so." He snapped his fingers trying to remember. "The chatty sister. The one with all the hair that does this whenever she talks." Fred waved his hand, mimicking flicking hair over his shoulder.

"Wait. So, the Fates said go to Ireland and take a suit?" Doubt colored her voice. "Did you go there planning to just take a suit?"

"No! Everything was legitimate, thank you! Anyway, the Fates said it would solve my problems. It was the best advice they could give for my situation." He shrugged.

"Legitimate? Why do I doubt that?" She rubbed her temples as she thought over this news. "The Fates wanted you to go to Ireland and get a suit. This is absurd. Even if the Fates approved the idea the council didn't, and now we have irate Irishmen ready to beat you to a pulp. I don't understand this at all."

"I dunno, but who am I to question Fate?" Fred grinned.

"You're here because all you've done is question Fate!" Her voice came out as an outraged squeak. "The Fates made you an incubus, and what do you do? Deny it!"

Fred huffed. "Well, Fate didn't seem to mind me questioning! And, ugh! How many more times am I gonna hear that one? Why does everyone keep sayin' I'm an incubus? Of course I  _know_  what I am! I can see!" He rolled his eyes, his gaze landing on his naked lap. "Ugh!"

"Fates! Fatessssss!" She leaned forward. "There are three of them and they are probably wondering why you are questioning their decision! The decision that made you an incubus that you have consistently shown to be in denial about! So, why wouldn't everyone remind you when they see you? It's like a dog insisting it's a cat! It's a dog!"

"Pfft! I'm not a dog, or a cat!" Fred scratched his head. "Maybe the Fates," he said, emphasizing the last letter, "got it wrong at first and tried to remedy their mistake by offering their support." He smiled, smugly.

Felicia slapped her forehead. "They don't get things wrong! They're the Fates! They decide your life from beginning to end, well, we don't really have ends, but you get my point. You were always destined to be lilin, to be an incubus. Why are you pretending to be something else?"

"I'm an imaginary friend. Are you surprised?" He tilted his head, sporting an innocent grin.

"Oh, of course. Your  _clothes_  just scream imaginary friend." She rolled her eyes. "Imaginary friend is a job title. You shouldn't- You won't be one anymore. Then what will you call yourself?"

Fred's expression dimmed and he stared at Felicia. The last thing he wanted was to remain lilin, to accept that the Fates had created him this way with the intention that's what he would always remain. He belonged in the mortal realm, and somehow he would prove it. "Fred," he answered. "I'll call myself Fred."

Her shoulders sagged. Representing him before the council would be the easy part. Showing him that he was an incubus and not human might kill her. The latter wasn't part of her job, but she felt like she had to help him. She just didn't know how.

"Look, we have a huge task before us. We just need to take things one thing at a time." She sighed, hoping that they had developed enough trust that he would listen to her next words. "I'm gonna ask a big favor. A huge one… Can you make an apology to the offended parties? A sincere apology?"

"Apologize?!" Fred's eyes widened. "Those blighters bit me! I'd have scars if it were actually possible for me to! Maybe they should apologize to me? I paid them for that suit. In full and then some! I was a guest and those crusty snots know it!"

Felicia let her head fall back and groaned. She should have known. "Can't you just fake it?" She sat upright, a hopeful look on her face.

"Nope! No way. I'm Drop Dead Fred! I don't fake anything. I wouldn't give 'em the satisfaction!" He lifted his chin and sulked.

Felicia resisted the urge to stomp her feet and whine. Fred was rubbing off on her. "You're so stubborn. Listen, I only know what is written here. They claim you assaulted them, physically and verbally. Now, given what I've read, and now know about you, I would say that isn't far off the mark. The theft and destruction of property is a bigger problem. Did you steal the suit?"

"Pfft! Course not! I gave them four barrels of beer and my conversation. Fair trade, if you ask me. Can I help it if some of 'em just couldn't hold their liquor? They're the rabble who got all bitey and started the brawl! So, I snatched my suit and left." He shrugged. "That's that."

"You're telling me they traded you a magic suit for beer and a chat?" Felicia frowned. "I don't know if that is a stereotype or bullshit."

"Both really, except it's bollocks they keep harassing me 'bout it. They've banned me from their country forever, and the mortal realm when it's St. Patty's Day. I also can't go within fifty feet of any rainbows. Isn't that enough? Honestly, who bans someone and then stalks them around, nattering about their dirty laundry for centuries?"

"So it's their word against yours. Fantastic." She rubbed her temples. "If I lose, my wife is going to never let me hear the end of it. 'You thought you would be a big shot, Licia. You said this will help our family.' Dammit, we can't lose! Lorcan, I need to know what happened during this transaction!"

Fred winced. "Family? Do you got kids?" He suddenly felt bad for her having to untangle all of his mess, so he tried his best to remember. Certain topics gave him a soft spot, as much as he didn't like to admit it.

"We're expecting, actually. My wife is beside herself and is decorating. She loves decorating. We have so many pillows on our bed. Uh, sorry, that was probably more than you needed to know." She quietly cleared her throat and Fred smiled.

"Trust me, I've heard worse. No, you're… very lucky."  _Suppose I'll never get any of that with Lizzie._  The thought took him by surprise and he quickly cleared his throat, too.

Scratching his head, Fred added, "Uh, well, I remember showing up and asking if they had the suit. Those bastards laughed and prodded me a lot with ridiculous questions. Made fun of me for bein' an incubus who needed clothes. One of 'em flashed me! Said I needed to see how it's done! And when they found out why I needed the suit, they laughed even harder." He rolled his eyes. "So, I finally reasoned with 'em and offered a trade. Soon as they saw the barrels they made a break for 'em and started drinking. Even trade."

She winced. Her reports told her that their whole society looked at Fred as some kind of strange anomaly, someone to be laughed at. Now it seems a whole other group had laughed at him too. Guilt filled her and with it the desire to help him resurfaced.

"I'm sorry things have been hard and that everyone is always pointing out what's  _wrong_ with you." She did air quotes and rolled her eyes. "With the exception of the, uh, Irishmen we just want to help you."

Something about Felicia's offer of help sounded different than other times he'd heard it. Usually it came attached with the idea that he had to change, to be exactly like all the other lilin, or like he was weird and broken. He never believed for one moment that they had intended to really help him, but the gentle way Felicia offered it reminded him of his mother and he knew it was true.

He frowned, suddenly realizing how much he missed her and wished she was here with him, too. With his guard dropping, Fred felt out of place even more than before and he tapped the table out of habit.

"As for the problem with the leprechauns," said Felicia, "there has to be a reason they are not letting this go. Treaty agreements are on the line." She pleaded with him, trying to make him understand. "If they can prove it wasn't an even trade, you can forget Lizzie. You'll be in Lullabi and she'll be just a memory."

Fred flinched. "Alright." He exhaled. "I'll do anything for Lizzie… How do we prove it? The suit's gone now. Can they really have evidence after this long?"

"I'm assuming there is no impartial witness who can magically turn up," she mumbled. She studied Fred. "Well, there is one way to show what happened, but I don't know how you're going to feel about it."

"If I'm still nude, then I promise to hate it, but go on."

She laughed. "I would expect nothing less." Fussing with her papers, she thought over what she wanted to say. "So, the, uh, way to show what happened in Ireland is to… look into your memories."

Fred winced. He hated when anyone looked into his head. "Of course. I come home, they take my clothes, and now wanna probe my brain. Sure. Why not complete the set? Sounds like a fun time." He rolled his eyes.

"At least it's painless." She gave him a toothy smile. "I mean, physically painless."

Fred snorted. "You've never been probed by my sister."

She blinked. "I'm married. And it's not a big deal. Just the whole council will see what happened. And the Irish. And whatever witnesses are present. I'm not selling this to you, am I?"

"No, but if it gets me back to Snotface I'll do it."

"Good, because if those leprechauns are just going to swear by their word, we'll need your memories. Moving on..." Felicia glanced over her papers again and spoke without looking up. "Your duties as imaginary friend... You seemed to have done a decent job. You were a little manic, but all in all you helped your charges. Until Miss Elizabeth Cronin, a.k.a. Snotface. So strange. Your assignment with her went awry, it seems." She looked up into Fred's eyes. "You keep going back to her. Why is that?"

"You're asking me something that's not really that simple to sum up, but I'll try." He sighed. "I've had a lot of charges, some who were just lonely, some who got abused, some who'd lost a parent, so Lizzie wasn't the worst case. Her mum scared the piss outta her and resented her. Her dad had tried leaving multiple times. She was one of those babies to save a marriage. God, I hated her bitch of a mother..." Anger flashed over his face and it took all his resolve not to rant.

"I can tell," Felicia said, with a wry smile, her brows raised. Fred smiled back.

"Don't get me started on that megabitch. Anyway, something was different about Lizzie. Didn't know what it was at first, since every kid bonded with me, but there was something…" He wrinkled his nose as he tried to find the word. "...temporary about the others. Yeah. Every one of 'em, even when they still needed me and believed, still wanted 'real' friends over me. They'd forget me soon as one came around. But not Lizzie." Fred smiled sadly at the memories. They seemed so fresh in his mind, making him miss those simpler moments.

This softer more serious side of Fred tugged at Felicia's heart. She could see he was a caring individual and he really cared about Lizzie. It made Felicia even more curious about the woman who had finally made the runaway incubus stop running.

"She always wanted me to play, too," Fred went on, "even when the other kids couldn't see me. It never mattered to her that I was invisible. I was just her best friend. Forever, she said, and she had these crazy plans to run away together when she grew up." His smile faded. "But I got ripped away from her because of my behavior…" The word soured on his tongue.

"Apparently, I'd gotten carried away too much trying to make her laugh. Lizzie  _loved_  it when I smashed things, but did the IF council see it that way? Of course not! They got all up in arms thinking my nature was on the brink of snapping, so I got torn away! From a little girl who'd never understand why! No goodbyes, no anything! They made me leave her." Fred's voice strained and he couldn't speak for a moment.

In silence, Felicia studied his face. She experienced his emotions almost as if they were her own. Even if she couldn't have, she could tell from his voice and face alone what he felt inside, especially where Lizzie was concerned. It still surprised her that the 'Screw Up of Lullabi' was in love.

Clearing his throat, Fred spoke softer than before. "Worst of all, those blighters wouldn't let me go back even after it got cleared up because her father had left. And why did that matter? Because I'm an incubus and they feared my nature would wanna console Lizzie's mum! I'd never heard anything so disgusting!" he shouted. "I'd never, ever, ever once thought about it and never, ever would! Ugh! Just the suggestion still makes me wanna puke!"

"I know it seems unfair, but you're a rogue." She shrugged her shoulder. "They had to put the mortals' safety above everything else." She winced at herself. "Sorry, I tend to sound preachy when it comes to rules. I'm sorry you got taken away from her like that."

"Thanks," he said, surprised again by her sentiment. He'd never had anyone understand what he had gone through. Every pain over losing Lizzie had stayed buried inside him. "You know, when you stop preaching you actually sound like a person." He smiled.

Felicia let out a loud burst of laughter. "I know, I know. All work and no play makes Felicia a dull girl." She laughed again. "I do know how to have fun. I like music and I like to dance." Tilting her head, she looked at Fred through a narrowed gaze. "You're pretty easy to talk to… when you're not being an insane, imaginary friend, slash sex-deprived incubus. I see why Lizzie likes you."

Fred blushed and tapped his fingers on the table. "Yeah, well, thanks. Let's just hope she still feels that way when tonight's through and doesn't just see a sex-deprived incubus…" He went quiet again. What if she didn't want anything to do with him now that she knew what he was firsthand?

When Fred fell quiet, Felicia studied him again. It was easy to just think of him as Lullabi's misfit, but he was just an incubus trying to navigate things his own way. He loved someone and it was complicated. Really complicated.

"You've known her a long time," she said. "Even though there's a new side of you that she doesn't know, you're still the friend she's known since she was little. She'll at least hear your story even if I have to go tell her myself," she said with a laugh.

"Thanks. Might have to hire you for that," he said, trying to ignore the ache in his chest. "She can be very stubborn when she's upset, especially with me." He paused and looked at Felicia, softly. "You know, you kinda remind me of her. She tries to take everything seriously, too. Says I play around too much, too, actually."

"You? Play around too much? Perish the thought." She laughed. "I suppose when it comes to you someone needs to be serious."

He laughed. "And someone like you needs someone like me to remind ya to smash things every once in a while," he said, winking at her.

Shaking her head, she chuckled. "No. I don't need to smash things. That's why I dance. It helps me unwind. Maybe you should consider that instead of your way. I bet it'd get you in less trouble. You could dance with Lizzie." She grinned. "Speaking of… you went back to her, but you shouldn't have, or shouldn't have been able to. Explain. Please."

Fred couldn't help smiling at the idea of dancing with Lizzie, mostly because he loved the thought of having an excuse to hold her close. "Um… right that. No, I wasn't supposed to go back. I'm sure it's in that file of yours, but because I'm an incubus-" Fred gave her a teasing stare. "See, I do remember. They made a special rule that I couldn't go back like all the other IFs, should any of my former charges need me. The grown up ones, I mean."

"So, what you're saying is you broke the rules. Knowingly." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.

Fred leaned back and eyed her. "You're not about to scold me, are you?"

"I feel like I should on principle." She sighed. "Let's move past that for a moment. How was that even possible? Why weren't you reassigned?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Guess lines got crossed. I got pulled back in a blink, not out of choice. Trust me…" His eyes widened. "I was  _really_  surprised when I saw her all grown up. For a couple of reasons," he muttered. Fred remembered how his heart had stopped when he first saw her, sitting in her nightgown on her bed. She'd been indescribable. "Scared the piss outta me."

Felicia snickered. "I'll bet, but why didn't they notice?"

"Who knows. I didn't ask. Why stir the pot?"

She waved a hand between them. "This is why. It's all coming back to bite your naked ass."

"Oi! Leave my naked ass outta this!" He pointed at her and cringed.

Felicia hid her smirk. He really was forgetting he was naked. It was a good sign. "Regardless of their incompetence, you still had a duty to report it. It's one of the charges against you." She tapped her papers and Fred sneered at them.

"Look." He sighed. "I was gonna go, honest, and you know the last thing I'd ever do is to jeopardize my job. I may be a screw up, but I love what I do. It's just… I felt her pain. How much she still needed me. I'd never felt her so scared and alone… and all I could think was that it was my fault. I'd left her so quick before, and… I, I just couldn't go because-" He winced, remembering her wide eyes and her hope when she'd first seen him that night. "Because she was still my Snotface. There was this tiny piece inside her still glad to see me, that wanted me to fix it all. She needed me. So, I promised myself I'd just make it quick, help her, and go. For good. Thought it'd be simple to fix her life with her being grown up. Boy, was I wrong."

"While I commend you for wanting to help her, I'm having trouble figuring out how you were going to help a grown woman with her problems. I don't picture you as a life coach." She scrunched her nose as she tried picturing it, but all she imagined was him smashing things to bits.

"I'm really surprised they let you go back to an adult woman. If they didn't catch it right away, why didn't they do something after? Perhaps that was someone's oversight. I should look into this…" She looked up, a blush in her cheeks. "Sorry, work is never done. Please go on."

"Had to be an oversight." He shrugged. "But I try not to think about it too much. That's someone else's department."

Pausing, she thought over what he just said. "You- I- Well, that explains a lot."

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I promise I tried to do the right thing. Even set her up with her old childhood chum so she could move on and I could get back to being an IF... You've no idea how sick that made me! Playing by the sodding rules. Rather perverse, honestly, but I did it for her. Even when-" The weight of Fred's feelings silenced him and he frowned, tracing the wood's pattern on the tabletop. The color reminded him of Lizzie's eyes.

Felicia smiled at the way he spoke about Lizzie. It transformed him and it still shocked her that the incubus who had been hiding his nudity in the corner and ran away from sex was head over heels in love.

"You know, she and I really aren't all that different... We're both outcasts. We don't wanna be like everyone else tells us, and she won't admit it, but she still loves breaking things." His nose crinkled with his smirk, but he quickly turned serious again. "She's the most caring, brave, bright, and stubborn woman there is, and she doesn't even realize it. Well, maybe the stubborn bit…"

He focused on Felicia. "And surprisingly, I'm not so clueless I missed the warning bells about myself. I almost left a few times, actually… but the more I saw how much love she had in her, and felt what she needed, and what no one else wanted to see in her, the more I realized I wanted it... I even needed it. I just… I need her," he breathed, closing his eyes. His confession made his heart ache. He craved Lizzie's love more than he craved her body and every day it grew worse.

Nodding, Felicia frowned, her eyes shining with tears. She could feel everything as he spoke and it touched her that he had found something so special with a mortal woman.

"But I finished the job, and I said goodbye. Forever," he said, their kiss playing in his mind, melding with Lizzie's dream and warming his body. It had been sheer bliss. She'd needed him so much that looking back he couldn't tell his own desire from hers. Her touch, her essence, her desperate kisses still lingered on his skin and her plea to stay echoed in his mind. Both in dream and reality she'd wanted him to go back with her. What if it had been for more reasons than he'd realized?

An ache spread through his soul to be near her again and he wrapped his arms around himself. Again the sensation felt like it came from her. Gasping, Fred dug his fingernails against his shoulders, fighting the call to go back to her. His body trembled the harder he resisted and he laid his head on the table, eyes squeezed shut. This pull felt different than lust, almost like he needed to go to her so he could breathe again. He'd felt the same way before he'd sought help from his sister and now it almost seemed worse. "Bloody hell, not again! What is that?" he whispered, hoarsely.

Shaken, Felicia felt his emotions and his need so strongly they seemed as her own. Summoning her magic, she sent his desires away from her. Her powers floated through the air as black smoke and swirled around Fred, pushing at his need until it became nothing more than a small pulse inside him. Relieved, she watched and waited as his breathing returned to normal. She suspected this all had to do with Lizzie, but for him to still feel this way while in Lullabi concerned her.

Not wanting to worry Fred, she decided to keep it to herself until his examination presented answers. "I can tell how much she means to you, and not just because I can feel it. I'm sorry you've had to go through so much. To leave the person you love…" She shook her head. "I can't imagine. That time away from her must have been unbearable."

Lifting his head, Fred sat back in confusion from Felicia's gesture to soothe his desires. He hadn't expected her assistance, and ordinarily he hated any lilin magic touching him, but even he had to admit he'd needed help. Any longer and he might have climbed the walls. "Thanks," he said, nodding. "And yeah, it was the worst."

Glancing down at her papers, which she knew backwards and forwards, Felicia knew what had come next. "You couldn't stay away forever, so you went back and told her everything." She let out a low whistle. "That's a lot to drop on someone's doorstep, especially after six months." She shook her head. "So, in your words, how'd she take your news?"

"Well, she…" Fred hesitated and pursed his lips. "She took it better than she'd take a swarm of hornets up her knickers, I suppose…" He smiled, sheepishly and cleared his throat.

"Somehow I doubt that." She frowned. "What did you do to her?" She knew the answer, but she wanted to know what he thought about what had happened.

"Nothing!"

"Now I know that's a lie." She held up a finger and shook it at him. "Any time the answer to, 'What did you do?' is, 'Nothing,' you know that person did something wrong. As your lawyer I need the truth." She watched him roll his eyes and whine like a child. Felicia crossed her arms. Of course he'd whine on principle.

"You just won't stop with the nagging, will you?" he cried. "Don't you got enough material on me in that book?" Fred slouched. "Ugh, fine! All I  _did_ was dress as a ghost, banged on her door, asked for treats, mentioned I was an incubus, and told her I liked her." He shrugged. "Is that a crime?"

"All you did was… dress as ghost? For fornication's sake, why? Why would you- You know what, never mind. You just unloaded all your incubus baggage at her feet? Seriously? I know I've said this before, but did you not learn anything in school? You're not supposed to tell mortals about lilin, or our world, or anything. I'm surprised she didn't lose her damn mind right then. I would say all of what you did is a crime, even if it wasn't actually a crime." She set her arms on the table and buried her face in them. "Why?"

Fred's mouth fell open and he tilted his head.  _Oh god, I broke her._  "Well, it didn't sound so bad at the time," he remarked, but his statement sounded more like a question. Felicia looked so upset that Fred wasn't sure he should say any more. He hated when girls got that strained tremble in their voice that sounded way too close to crying. "Um…" He reached out, hesitated, but patted her hand.

At his touch, Felicia slowly sat up. He was actually trying to console her. The idea seemed strange, but still welcome. "Thank you," she murmured, still processing the contact that he had initiated. "I'm sorry I was upset. I suppose the romantic in me was appalled by what you did, and the lawyer in me is even more horrified. I'm sure you did mean well, but now we have a slew of charges to deal with due to that and the, uh, following incidents."

Pulling his hand away, Fred nodded. "If it helps your romantic, I didn't go there as a romantic-thing. Not to start, anyway. I meant to show up as her friend so I didn't dump everything at once. Planned to ease into that bit after seeing how she took my being back at all, and the… lilin thing. It just… didn't go like I'd hoped." He frowned, the 'incident' and Felicia's words sticking in his mind. "I can show you what happened. If you like," he said, raising a brow. Felicia had been honest with him, and while Shea had seen his confession to Lizzie, Felicia might offer an insight very different from his sister.

"I think my inner romantic is sad, but she'll get over it. I understand that you wanted to ease into things, but telling a mortal about lilins and Lullabi is a huge deal." She sighed. He was not making things easy for himself or her. "You want to show me? Well, it'll probably speed things along, and save us from more awkward conversations." She nodded and leaned forward. "Go ahead."

"I'm all for that." Reaching out, Fred placed his hand against Felicia's temple and let her see his visit to Lizzie's apartment. Every detail played out in a blink and when it ended, he withdrew his hand.

Gasping, Felicia shook her head. "That was sensory overload," she whispered, her gaze out of focus. "I don't know if you in a sheet is better or worse than I imagined." She winced. "Definitely glad we don't get headaches. I have mixed feelings about that scenario. I know your feelings, and your intent, and how much Lizzie means to you. I get that sneak peek, so it softens the blow. Lizzie didn't get that." Felicia sighed. "You're between a rock and a hard place. A really hard place. You were at the point where you had to tell her and I think you went for the rip the Band-Aid off method. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well and I'm sorry that it didn't. I hope you do get your chance to go back to her and tell her how you feel."

"Thanks… Me, too," said Fred. He hadn't thought about how much Lizzie wouldn't have been able to know when he confessed his feelings for her and he suddenly felt like the biggest idiot.  _Maybe I'll have to do something about that._

Gathering her stack of papers, Felicia tapped them on the table and placed them in an even pile. "I keep asking you all these questions because I need to know what happened if I'm going to help. And in the spirit of honesty, I am also morbidly curious." She held up a hand, keeping him from saying anything. "Mainly, my purpose is to see how you answer because if you can't answer the council honestly, how will they take you seriously? I promise I am on your side. And I know you're upset and you aren't aware of all the laws and the impact of what you did, but thank you for letting me see what happened. That was personal and I'm honored you shared it with me."

Fred tried hard not to smile, but Felicia's support and kind words made it impossible. "Thanks," he said, nervously tapping the table and staring at her stack of papers. "For your help. With everything, I mean. I'll try to make it worth it," he whispered and cleared his throat. Speaking in his normal tone, he added, "But I hope you're not expecting a hug." He sneered, but it appeared too playful to display disgust.

Grinning, Felicia leaned forward. "Oh, I'd hug you, but you'd turn an even darker shade of red and you might faint." She laughed. "I think not having that suit is helping. You're much easier to talk to. Now we just need to make the council see eye to eye with us."

"Ha, ha! I'd certainly never faint over your girl cooties!" he said, but leaned away just in case she made an attempt at hugging him. He found her remark about not having the suit making things easier to talk to him strange. Was he acting any different? He glanced down at himself, but quickly looked back up and groaned.  _I'll never get use to that sight._

Felicia rolled her eyes. "You've been doing so well. Being naked isn't something to even worry about." She sighed and turned her gaze to the ceiling. "I don't know how they'll not notice if you blush and fuss every time you see naked lilin." She looked at Fred, a frown on her face. "You don't notice it when you're talking. You seem to forget about it. Will you be able to in there with the council?"

"I do not blush!" He pulled a face. "It just feels unnatural to me not having clothes. How can I forget all I've got left is a smile?" he cried, her accusation rattling him. What if she had a point?  _Am I really forgetting?_  he wondered.  _Fuck, I can't start forgetting! I'll start acting like them!_  His heart pounded in his ears. How long had they talked without him noticing? "Maybe I just didn't bring it up 'cuz I was hoping you'd forget?"

Drumming her fingers on the table, Felicia thought about how she might help him. He needed to see himself becoming more comfortable in his own skin and that it wasn't bad. She just had to make sure she didn't push him too hard and send him back to being a prude.

"I want to help you, you know that. Do you think I'm some kind of monster? Do you think being a lilin and having our abilities is terrible? It helps people, namely mortals. We're not evil and there's nothing wrong with being comfortable without clothes. There's even mortals who are like that." She bit her lip, hoping she'd chosen the right direction. "I know you stop noticing it, because you stop fidgeting and trying to cover yourself, and you look at me without trying to avoid looking at my breasts. Remember our talk about not fighting the Fates? Stop fighting and start living."

Fred crossed his arms and stared at the table. Why did this topic always come up whenever he came home? Did the council pass around a script so every lilin knew what to say to him about his life?  _They could save time with a pamphlet._ His jaw clenched.

"And there's also nothing wrong with wanting to help mortals in other ways," he said. "I know you're trying to help, and might not think what I've done with my life is anything good, that it's just pretend, but I've loved every second of it. It's important to me, all those kids were, whether I'm supposed to be something else or not. I've had a real life, and helped people, and it's been great. I don't wanna do the whole incubus thing. The Fates can spin some trousers into my future."

Felicia clenched her fists. He was so stubborn it nearly drove her insane. "No, there's nothing wrong with helping mortals. You did that very well, but that's over for you now. You're not going back to helping children. The only way you'll get to help people is by being an incubus, and if you want Lizzie… it's not going to be as an imaginary friend, or a human, because you aren't either. You need to accept that. I know you're fond of humanity and that's admirable. You march to the beat of your own drummer and that's not inherently wrong. But the refusal to complete your ceremony and the rule breaking is something else entirely. The traditionalists don't like it. The Office of Lilin Affairs, less so."

"Pfft! Like I care what those tra-prick-tionalists think! I'm Drop Dead Fred. Have been for nearly three centuries. Helped lotsa kids this way, and I'll have you know I'm very proud of dodging the shag bullet!" Fred's mind flashed back to Lila and her suggestion to lay his head on her 'bosom of love' and he shuddered.  _That's gonna haunt me._  "I'm not doing the ceremony. Lizzie's not gonna see this side of me again. No one is. I'll find a way."

Resisting the urge to bang her head on the table or reach over and strangle him, Felicia took a deep breath. He was stubborn to a fault. "I think you mean you're proud you've dodged the shag bullet with Lila. I saw in your head. You can't apply that to Lizzie." She sighed. "Are you going to be Lullabi's first lilin monk? Are you going to take vows of chastity? That is ridiculous. The only way you're going to find is a way to piss off the council." Running her hands over her face, she thought over her options. Tranquilizing him was not an option, but tempting. How could she convince the lifelong virgin to have sex before the council demanded it? All she knew was, Lizzie was the key.

"Chastity? Why would I vow anything to her? I don't even know her." Fred rolled his eyes. "And, oh yes, let's not piss off the council." He waved his hands in the air. "Those wankers spend their time thinking about me way too much, if you ask me. Are you sure after so long they're not just pissed in general 'bout every little thing?"

"Are you afraid Chastity would take your virginity?" She rolled her eyes. He was just being a brat now. "They're concerned about you because you're the only sex demon who isn't having sex!" Her voice neared a shout and it was unlike her, but she was having trouble maintaining her volume control. "They're pissed off because you keep making trouble! Why don't you just have sex and we can all get on with our lives?"

"Yeah, well, maybe they're just pissed off because they're demons!" Fred's fists clenched. He hated that word. Every time he lusted, or had to feed that word wouldn't leave his mind. Demon. "I'm not having sex and they can't make me! With Lila, or Chastity, or anyone else!"

"The only one who is pissed off about being a demon, is you," she spoke at her normal volume. She was close to making him see sex wasn't bad, she was sure of it. "So, does sex with Lizzie not interest you anymore? You're just going to forget about her?"

Confusion replaced his anger. "That's- What?" He choked. "No! I mean, I'm not gonna forget about her."  _Why's she asking this?_  He blushed and fidgeted, unable to get another word out of his mouth.

Smiling, Felicia made a note to herself to bring up Lizzie in sexual situations more often. "I didn't think so. It would be terrible to forget about the woman you love. If you ever want to be with her again you need to reconsider having sex."

"Ugh!" Fred pulled a face. "Gross! I'm not fucking any succubi!" He caught the odd expression on Felicia's face, and realized her unspoken question. "No incubi, either! My dad already asked that once." Rolling his eyes, Fred still couldn't believe he'd had that conversation. He sighed, leaning back as he tried to think of how to explain everything in a way that a lilin might finally understand. He was rather tired of getting the same, old speech about just doing it because it 'was no big deal.' "Look, I have my reasons why I've avoided doing it, it's just hard to explain 'em."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Really? That part is accurate? You have some hang up about sticking your penis in a vagina? Why is sex so repugnant to you? From my notes here you've basically done everything, but that. Why can't you just find a nice succubus and fuck each other blind? It's so simple. Honestly. Usually men want to lose their virginity, not keep it." She sighed again. "I may need to call in a favor or two."

"Uh, uh! Hold it," he said, waving a finger. "I'd love to help you win this and get outta here, but I'm not doing it with anyone!"

She let her head fall back and she groaned. "You were just whining about the council being all over your naked ass." She sat up and met his gaze. "The fact that you're not an authorized incubus is a thorn in their side. One they want to remedy as quickly as possible. I'm sure they'll want to whisk you away and get you laid posthaste. That's why I'm bringing this up. I think if we can spin this into a positive story we'll have this sorted out in no time flat. An incubus redeemed, something like that."

"Wait- Can they do that?!" He gaped. "They wouldn't really... They can't make me! I'm not ready! I call for a timeout immediately!"

Slapping her forehead, she sighed.  _It's like he's five-years-old._  "You were the one treating this like some game. 'I don't have to do what anyone says! Sex is gross! Cooties!' I feel like a babysitter, not a lawyer. Please, work with me before the council takes away all your options."

"I don't sound like that," he mumbled, looking down. He knew he'd been difficult on purpose for centuries. It was as strong an impulse as his incubus nature, but her last words left him worried. "Surprisingly, I know not everything's a game, but it's how I get through it."

Sitting up straighter, he met Felicia's eyes with complete seriousness. "Alright. Here's the truth…" He took a deep breath. "It's not that sex grosses me out and makes me puke. I'd..." He fidgeted, trying to force out the words. "I'd very much like to do it, actually." It sounded strange to say that aloud. "So, that's not the issue."

Felicia resisted the urge to throw her hands in the air and scream in triumph.  _Finally, we're getting somewhere._  "I appreciate your candor. It's nice to know there is a somewhat reasonable incubus under all the…" She waved a hand up and down. "...eccentricity. That being said, you do have to address the issue of being a virgin. I'm so glad to hear that sex interests you. What will it take to make this happen? Is there anything I can do to help? I mean, advice not…" She made a face. "Sorry, that came out weird. I meant, can I offer any advice, or is there someone you'd like to talk to?"

Fred laughed at her poor choice of words. It was nice to see someone so put together make a mistake after tonight. He didn't feel so alone and a compliment wasn't bad either, but his smile faded when she brought up his virginity again. He knew the council would press on it to avoid any further incidents. They had threatened it for years, he'd just liked living in denial. "Um..." He wrung his hands together. "There's one way you can help. I'll only go through with it if it's with Lizzie."

Her jaw dropped. "You don't ask much, do you? This is… I don't know if a signed permission slip from the Fates would make that happen."

"Can we get one?" he asked, hopeful, but Felicia gave him a look.

"Do I look like a fairy godmother?"

"I dunno. I never paid attention to those parts of the stories."

"Of course not," she muttered. "That would require you to listen and not smash things."

"Well, I'm listening now and I promise not to smash Lizzie." He smiled.

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled." She rolled her eyes. "I don't want to burst your sex bubble, but the council is not about to grant you, of all lilin, a favor this huge."

"Then I'm not doing what they want." He crossed his arms. "I love her. I couldn't do it with someone else. I wanna real shot with her, not just sex. Those are my terms. If that's not good enough for the council, then they should think about it this way: she's human. The rules they love so much are different from her perspective. Plus, she knows I'm a virgin. If I did it with anyone else it'd shatter her trust! Her bastard husband cheated on her. I won't turn around and do it too whether or not we're together. I'd lose her for good. So, nope. I'm saving myself for her, thank you." His expression softened with worry.

His words left Felicia speechless. For someone who had refused to have sex he had put a lot of thought into it. It was noble what he wanted, but she didn't see how to make it happen.

"But I also wanna make it clear, I'll only do it if she'll have me," he added, quietly, "and only if she loves me back first. I don't want my powers confusing her. I need her to be sure how she feels. Her happiness is important to me. She deserves that." He looked at Felicia in sadness. "Please. I know they don't like first times to be with mortals, but isn't there something you can do?"

Seeing the broken expression on his face, had Felicia feeling like she was the one who had denied him Lizzie. "I can't promise you anything. I have no say, no pull with the council. On one hand, the council will get what they want. On the other hand, first time sex with a mortal is prohibited. But on the other hand, if she loves you and you love her it could be an ideal situation." She stared at him in silence. "It's just that you're not an approved incubus. Before we even worry about the council. What about Lizzie? Do you know how she feels? Do you have any indication that she might reciprocate your feelings?"

Taking a deep breath, Fred tried ignoring his growing fear that the council would deny his request, or that Lizzie might reject him. "Um, no, I'm not certain how she feels 'bout me. We're supposed to talk tomorrow night. It's… complicated?" Fred cringed. Complicated sounded like an understatement at this point. "'Cept, I didn't start that dream she had of me," he said, thinking aloud. "And she called out to me first from her sleep. That's why I went in- I'm right that mortals can't actually summon us, right?" He shook his head. "Anyway, I'd like that last part in the record." He pointed at her papers and tapped the table. "I didn't know I was in for dinner and a show."

Felicia stared at him. Fred had this uncanny ability to make things insanely complicated. It seemed so outrageous that someone might accuse her of making it up, or using poetic license.  _Truth is stranger than fiction,_  she thought, but only Fred seemed to possess this gift - or curse. Currently, Felicia leaned more toward curse.

"I would love to ignore your actions on this, but the council is aware. They are aware of everything you have ever done. I don't understand mortals summoning imaginary friends, but they can't summon lilin. It's Greek to me. From what I can tell in my reports, it shouldn't have happened. You were already reassigned. I'm sure the IF people will give us their explanation…" She thought this over. "Unless they want to pretend they didn't screw up and try to blame it all on you."

"I'm sure they'll try it." Fred rolled his eyes and tapped a steady tune on the table. Everything Felicia said was as he expected, but he still didn't understand why he remained connected to Lizzie, or why no one else could tell him how. It strengthened his suspicion that it meant something important, and whatever the reason the connection held, he didn't want to ever lose it.

"I'll have to listen closely to what they say. As for your dinner and a show… was it a good show?" She was dying to know what had happened and see his reaction after the fact. It had to have been worth it from the tint of his blushes, and if how much trouble he had gotten into was any indicator.

Fred's fingertips took a noticeable slip over the table. Mouth open, he stared at Felicia, hoping his red hair hid his burning ears from her gaze.  _A good show? I'd ruddy well see it again and join in_ , he thought, his traitorous body heating up again.  _Ugh. I need an off switch!_

"Um... Well, I'm here because of it, aren't I?" He gulped. "It- She... Lizzie, she's got a good imagination and..." He thought back to her mouth needing his and her soft breast molded into his palm at the end of her dream. His real hand at last, instead of Lizzie's dream of him. "And everything."

When his desire for Lizzie rose again, Felicia looked closely at his face. His reaction confirmed her suspicions and she hid a smirk behind her hand. "I know the reasons for you being here, even if I don't have the exact details. Again, it's my burning curiosity, but I also need to know the facts so I can help you." She smiled. "Whether Lizzie is aware of it or not, there is something between you both. I would just like to know if it's lust or love. If they will let us look into her feelings, then maybe you'll have a shot. I will do my best to get that for you, but I don't want you to get your hopes up." She looked into his eyes. He had to know it was a trillion to one and she didn't want him filled with false hope. "I don't think the council is inclined to do you any favors right now."

Fred looked back into Felicia's eyes, worry mounting inside him that surpassed his lust for Lizzie. He didn't expect Lizzie to be in love with him after just announcing he was a real person, but until now he hadn't considered she might already lust after him. When they'd sat together on the sofa tonight he had felt a hint of desire emerge from her, but he'd brushed it off. Combining that with her dream, now he wondered if it were true.  _Announcing I'm a sex demon probably didn't help_ , he thought, but he feared the dream had made it worse. What if her lust prevented her from falling in love with him? It didn't matter what the council said if that happened...

"Back to your connection..." said Felicia. "It is mentioned as a charge against you. You failed to close the link between you both. Walk me through that."

Taking a deep breath, Fred shrugged. "It's like I said. I couldn't close it. Once the job was done and I said goodbye, I did like always. Tried it three times. Even went back while Lizzie was asleep and tried again. The link wouldn't break. They can't charge me for stubborn magic."

"Did you let your superiors know there was an issue?" The imaginary friend connection and all it entailed remained foreign to her. "I don't know why it would refuse to close."

"That makes two of us," he said. "And no! I'm not so crazy to tell that lot! They'd have quarantined me again and stuck Lizzie in a chastity belt, surrounded by nuns and a moat of holy water for even speaking to her in the first place!" He rolled his eyes.  _And I bet there'd be crocodiles, too. Or maybe just the Megabitch._

Drumming her fingers on the table with one hand, she chewed on the nails of her other hand. "Can anyone confirm that you tried to close the link, then? As far as they are concerned you never bothered, so that's a bit of a problem."

"Just one."

Waving a hand at Fred, she waited a beat. "Well? Who?"

"I don't wanna say."

Her drumming resumed. "Spit it out!"

"Alright, alright! I went to Namby Pamby for help, but you can't tell her about this. None of my friends know what I am!"

"I'm sorry… you told who now?" She tilted her head, directing her left ear at Fred as if it might help her hear better. "Is that really her name?"

"Gross, huh?" He laughed. "That's her name. She's an IF. Wears a tutu, likes to squash me every chance she gets." He made a face. "Anyway, Drop Dead Fred's way better sounding."

Shaking her head, she frowned at this information. "Well, I don't know if that is a help, or a hindrance. Um, I don't know how to tell you this, but your former, uh, colleagues will be in attendance. Character witnesses. It takes on a whole, new meaning after hearing the name Namby Pamby." She wrinkled her nose.

"But I'm nude!" he cried. "They can't be here! They'll see  _everything_!" He glanced down at his lap, his expression twisting in mortification. "No. Nope. That's it! I'm staying in here! Tell them I'm sick. Just make them go away."

She dropped her head back and sighed. "Stop being a prude. That's not in my purview. They could help you. They know what's it like to help children and they know what you've done for your charges. And if this Namby Pamby…" She paused and made a face. "...can help in regards to the link you can't close, then I need to ask her about it."

A knock interrupted her.

"One moment."

Felicia stood and went to the door, opening it a fraction and peering out. She spoke something to whoever was outside, but Fred couldn't make it out. His apprehensions grew as she closed the door and turned back to him looking worried.

"They want to start soon. I need to go speak to someone. I'll be back. Don't worry, Lorcan. We'll get you back to Lizzie."

He didn't say anything, but nodded. What else could he say? He was moments away from a courtroom ready to stop him from ever seeing Lizzie again.

Felicia hurriedly gathered her papers. "I'll be back as quick as I can. Hang in there." She walked around the table, gave his shoulder a squeeze, and left the room.

"Hang in there?" he mumbled to himself. "I'll be hanging  _out_  in the council room in a moment." He sighed loud, tussling his hair. "This is why I don't come home."

* * *

In the hall, a tall incubus paced. He looked up when the nearby door opened and closed, his eyes beholding Felicia with such intensity she winced.

"Easy with the death glare," she said, waving him off as he stepped forward. He peered down at her, which still seemed impressive to Felicia, given her above average height. He crossed his thick arms over his broad chest, and raised his brows.

"It's complicated." She sighed. "I do have hope, though." Felicia looked around the hall, but saw no one else. "Let's go into this other room. Just in case. You never know who might be listening." She gave a quick knock on the door to their left and opened it when no one responded. Stepping in, the silent incubus followed her and once the door closed, she spun and faced him.

"He's in love, Andras. I did not see that coming. This could help him. He loves that mortal woman he has known for such a long time. She-"

She was cut off by his upheld hand.

"Lorcan is in love?" He scoffed at the notion, his deep voice reminding her of a bear. "Did he tell you this? Did he also tell you he ran away from home, pissed off the entire council, made his mother upset, and refuses to speak to me at all?"

"Well, once we broke the ice and I could get a straight answer out of him, yes." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Are you thinking that he's making this up? He is not purposely doing things to piss you off."

"Isn't he?" He glared right back at her.

"Stop glaring! I swear if we weren't friends I would knock you on your ass just to get through to you." She pursed her lips and continued glaring. "Like father, like son," she mumbled. A hint of a smile appeared on his bearded face.

"That's why we're friends. You don't put up with my attitude. And thank you for taking this case. I know it's asking a lot. Probably too much of you."

She sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. "I owe you a lot. I would have gotten kicked out of practicing law and I'd be disgraced. You helped me when no one would."

He waved a hand at her. "Stop thanking me for that every time we speak. I'm not a saint, Felicia. Ask my son." He grumbled the last part.

"I swear the two of you need to sit down and talk all of this out. Both of you think the other is out to get them." She waved her arms. "Just talk! You just want to help him and I think he wants to be respected in your eyes. Even if he would never admit to it. He's been on his own for a long time. That's not easy." She looked at Andras. "He thinks you hate him and view him as a giant screw up that is the black sheep of the family."

"He's not entirely wrong." When Felicia stared open-mouthed at him he rolled his eyes. "I don't hate him!" He held his hands out toward her when she looked less than convinced. "Felicia, he is my son. Do I loathe his life choices? Yes. Am I ashamed that he is a virgin and can't talk about sex without cringing? Don't tell Calliope, but I am. He just kept making terrible decision after terrible decision and no one could talk him out of it. Not even Calliope or Scheherazade." He exhaled a long breathe.

"I've tried to do what I could. I pulled those strings to get him to be an IF. It was better than them putting him in a damn box. I tried to smooth over that bullshit with the suit, but those fucking leprechauns aren't letting this one go. Little bastards."

"I'll do my best to deal with that," said Felicia. "Apparently there was a fair trade, but with Lorcan I don't know if his stories are completely true." At the sardonic look she got from Andras she laughed. "I know, I know. He can embellish and be dramatic, but he loves Lizzie. I could feel it. Now, whether she loves him back remains to be seen." She rubbed her chin. "Maybe your daughter can do some sleuthing for me."

"If she can help her brother she'll do whatever you want." Andras said, a half-smile emerging despite his ire at his son. "She protects him fiercely and tells me off for letting him think I don't want him home." He sighed. "It just became easier after so long. How can you tell your children that you failed as a parent?"

Felicia gasped. "You did not fail!" She stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "You love all your children. I've seen it. You may not have handled Lorcan in the best way, but at least you tried. Now's your chance." She indicated with her eyes where Lorcan waited for her in the next room.

Andras shook his head. "What am I going to say to him? He'll probably mouth off and say I ruined his life." He scratched his chin, pulling on his beard as he thought of his son. "Of all my children, he pushes my buttons the most and it's continuous."

"I've met him. I believe it." She grinned. "And yet I can't help wonder where he gets it from."

"I don't push buttons." He growled.

"Tomayto, tomahto," she replied, still grinning.

"Now who's pushing buttons?"

She laughed. "It's something about being around Lorcan and you. I just can't seem to help myself. He's really not bad, once you get past the petulant, whiny, jerk part of him."

"Ha!" Andras' bark of laughter, made her jump.

"He even said he would have sex. Of course, he added a stipulation because that seems typical of him, but he seemed very interested… What?" Andras' mouth had fallen open and he stared in stunned silence. "What? Are you that shocked that he would want to have sex? He's an incubus for crying out loud!"

"An incubus who has been running from sex for the better part of three centuries!" The volume at which he shouted was almost deafening.

Clamping her hands over her ears, Felicia hurried backwards. "Ow! Could you speak at a normal level like a civilized person? You don't have to roar at me!"

"Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can you see why he and I don't get on? He makes me irate."

"Maybe you need to take up meditating. Do some yoga? You really need to learn to relax. Everyone and their eardrums would thank you." She still had not removed her hands from her ears.

"Very amusing. Put your hands down," he grumbled, but made sure to lower his voice.

"Thank you." She lowered her hands. "Now, please don't lose it over this next part. He only wants to have sex if he can have it with the mortal. And… only if she wants to have sex with him." She readied her hands in case she needed to cover her ears again.

Andras' face turned red. He opened his mouth to tell her what he thought of that, but immediately closed it when Felicia winced. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. He waited several beats and then slowly let it out.

"Felicia, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." His voice grew louder. "What is he thinking? I can't believe that for once he is thinking with his dick and not his brain! Does he even know-" He sighed at Felicia motioning him to lower his voice and he resumed at a normal volume. "Does he even know what that would entail? The council is not going to let some, some out of control, misfit incubus fuck a mortal woman when he's never had sex before. I- I swear to Bacchus that boy just wants me to have a heart attack and drop dead! If I was a mortal I probably would have already!"

"Okay! Okay! Stop yelling!" Felicia shouted back, fed up with his roaring. "I told him it was a long shot, so you can stop yelling at me!"

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry." Andras scratched his chin as he paced around the room. "Can he be convinced to have sex with a succubus? Lila has been dying to take his virginity for years. I know she saw him."

Grimacing, Felicia shook her head. "No. I don't think that's an option. And Lila? Lila who works for the council Lila? She really still has a thing for Lorcan?" She made a face. "I guess she's pretty enough, but I always found her…"

"Repugnant?" Andras suggested.

"No! That's a bit strong. She's just too needy. Lorcan would never go for someone like her. Maybe if we could find a succubus like Lizzie he could be convinced it's in his best interest?" She looked unconvinced by her own suggestion.

"He wouldn't listen to his own family, so I doubt he'd listen to you."

"Hey! We happen to have a rapport," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring. "Maybe he doesn't listen to you, because you shout at him all the time."

He made a strangled noise in his throat. "I shout because he doesn't listen. It's a vicious circle. See if you can find a succubus who might fit the bill anyway. Better to have a contingency in place."

"This sounds like a terrible idea." She rubbed her forehead.

"What other option is there, Felicia? He gets locked away and they give him enough lust to keep him alive? That's no life. That's practically a death sentence. You've seen him, talked to him…" He sighed. "It would kill him and locking him away would kill Calliope."

"They won't lock him away. I'm going to do everything I can to see this works out without Lorcan getting locked in a tiny cell for all eternity." Felicia looked so fierce it made him laugh.

"I believe you. And again, thank you. This means a lot to me and my family."

"Just thank me after this is over. I better go check on him." She nodded her head toward the next room. "See you in there."

"Good luck." His face was a mask, but in his eyes she saw worry.

"Piece of cake." She grinned and left the room.


	5. It Takes a Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors’ Notes:  
> **We have time flowing differently in the human world than in Lullabi, so that’s why Lizzie hasn’t been awake that long here.**
> 
> zombierose3: Happy New Year! Thanks for the reviews and reads on the last chapter. It’s helped us get through this next one. We really do love hearing from you. Also, I graduated from college and I was told I had to share that or else.
> 
> unleashthewords: I just want to say thanks to the entire fandom! Your enthusiasm is fantastic! As always, we appreciate every comment, kudos, <3 and support! We love hearing from you so please don’t stop!
> 
> **Disclaimers: We don’t own Drop Dead Fred and we aren’t making any profit from the story (but we'll take reviews).

**Chapter Five**

_It Takes a Village_

* * *

Lizzie lie in the darkness of her room, still processing her very vivid dream. Resting her hands on her chest, she felt her still-pounding heart and the rise and fall of her each breath. Her eyes searched the dark, as if answers might lay hidden there. Tangled in her sheets, she ran a hand over her face, grinning as she recalled the ecstasy of her dream. She still grinned when details came back to her.

Giving and getting a hand job from a familiar redhead.

“Oh my god!” Her hands flew to cover her cheeks, her face hot. It was what she had cried out in her dream as well, and this only mortified her more. “I dreamed… Fred and I… Holy shit…” She rubbed her hands over her face. “What the hell was that?” She turned on the light, looking around her room, half-expecting to see the object of her apparent lust, but no one else was present.

Unconvinced, she leaned over and looked under the bed. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t find him.

Untangling herself from the sheets, she walked over and checked her closet. Empty, but she still expected him to pop out at any moment.

Taking her time, she crept into the bathroom and checked the shower just to make sure. No Fred. Maybe he really wasn’t here.

Catching her reflection in the mirror, she paused. Her hair was messy and she had traces of eyeliner smudged around her eyes, but she looked pleased. Very pleased.

“This is so wrong! I shouldn’t be happy about this!” She turned on the tap and began washing her face. “It was amazing, but it was with… and that is just- No!” She dried her face and ran her fingers through her hair. “Maybe it was just all the talk about lust and sex, and reading too many smutty books.” She shook her head. “Fred said he could do things. Oh dear God! I hope he didn’t!” She felt horrified and angry at the thought that he might have.

“Was it him and his incubus stuff… Would he do this to get back at me?” She hurried to her closet. “God, I’m so sexually frustrated. This is terrible!” She pulled off her T-shirt and threw it in the corner. “Fred! If you- Ugh!” She stomped her foot.

Embarrassingly, her panties had evidence of her wild dream romp and she took them off, tossing them on the clothes pile.

Stomping into the bathroom, she turned on the shower. Stepping inside, she bowed her head, letting the hot water pour over her body. She closed her eyes and the dream came back in flashes. Fred’s lips on her hers, his hands running over her skin. Her center throbbed and she clenched her thighs together.

“After three orgasms? I’m still horny?” She rubbed her face, the water flying against the walls of the shower. “What’s happening?” She began washing her hair, her movements quick and jerky as she tried not to think about Fred and his naughty hands.

“It was so real and so… amazing. Why did it have to be with Fred? It’s so embarrassing! But it’s the most turned on I’ve ever been in my life. The way he talked and his eyes… they were so black...”

Rinsing her hair, she felt her body begin to react as she replayed the dream. “He was so different and kind of sexy.” Her eyes widened. “I would’ve never imagined that word with him, but it was sexy. He was incredibly sexy.” Running her hands down her body, she brought them to her still-throbbing center. Tentatively, she stroked herself, moaning as it helped ease some of her sexual tension.

Feeling braver, she stroked her sensitive flesh again. Her fingers rubbed and teased her clit and she widened her stance as she pleasured herself. She moaned louder and imagined Fred’s voice like a whisper in her mind.

_“Naughty, Lizzie.”_

She bit her lip, her fingers moving inside her. “You have no idea,” she murmured. “I can still feel you on my skin. Why?” Closing her eyes, she moved her fingers faster, gasping as her orgasm slowly built. She used her other hand to tease her breast, imagining it was Fred, moaning as the orgasm made her shudder with pleasure.

“You made me cum in a dream. That’s a first,” she said as her legs shook. Remembering the way he had tasted and how his tongue moved against her own, added to her frenzy.

Moving her fingers in a quick, steady pace, her orgasm shook her body again and she cried out as it rocketed through her. Lizzie panted, her body slowly coming down from the high. “If my dream had gone any further, would I still have woken up horny and horrified and fucking myself in a shower and trying not to think of you naked, Fred? Or be talking to myself? You need to get a life, Lizzie.”

Letting her hands fall to her sides, she thought back to that dream. “Who are you really, Fred?”

* * *

Andras stood in the room, thinking over his conversation with Felicia. For three hundred years his son had been running from himself, and Andras had let him. He had never tried to understand. It had seemed beyond understanding at the time. Just youthful rebellion or a weird phase, but his youngest son had kept up his strange sex phobia. Now he was back, on the other side of the wall no less, and he wasn’t afraid of sex anymore. The problem was he wanted to be with a mortal.

Andras sighed. He doubted a sane woman would want to be with his son. Who was this woman that had finally stirred primal urges in Lorcan? There was one way to find out. Andras would go himself, but he needed to be here. He could ask his son, Remy, to go, but Remy was fond of deviating from the plotted course. Better to put his daughter on it. Scheherazade was more like Andras than his sons. She was focused, and would fight to the death for her family, especially Lorcan.

Exiting the room, Andras paused and stared at the door that led to his son. They would talk after this trial, and Bacchus willing, it wouldn’t be in a cell. He strode down the hall, stopping outside the council’s waiting area. He needed to send his daughter on her errand without anyone knowing. Not even Calliope.

_‘Scheherazade…’_  he spoke into her mind.

_‘Father? Where are you?’_.

_‘Outside the waiting area. Come see me now, and don’t tell your mother.’_

_‘What in Lullabi am I supposed to tell her?’_

_‘Just tell her something and get over here now!’_

Shea had remained completely still while speaking to her father in a fast, internal conversation. Gabriel had immediately sensed her anxiety and taken her hand, rubbing her knuckles.

_‘Is everything alright?’_  Gabriel’s question entered her mind, his voice like a caress to her body and soul.

_‘No? I’m not sure. Father wants to speak with me… outside. I can’t tell Mother, though.’_

_‘Just go. I’ll keep her company.’_

_‘What? Just make a run for it?’_

_‘Yes. I’ll handle the fallout.’_

_‘You’re a brave incubus. It’s very sexy.’_

_‘Go, or I’ll pinch you again.’_

_‘I love you, too,’_  she answered and Gabriel gave her hand a squeeze. He always knew just what she needed.

Clearing her throat, Shea turned toward her mother. “I need to go take care of something. I’ll be right back.” She jumped up, winked at Gabriel, and hurried away before Calliope could grab her hand.

“Scheherazade! Where are you going?” she called after her.

“Calliope, there’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you...” Shea heard Gabriel say as she made a beeline for the doors. She vowed to make it up to him and upon leaving the waiting room, she found her father pacing the hall.

“What’s the problem?” she asked, rushing to him. “Did you see Lorcan? Do you have news?”

Andras turned. “No.” He sighed, looking more worried than Shea had ever seen him. “What do you know of… of the mortal woman?”

“I-” Shea blinked, taken by complete surprise. “I know he… They have a history. He’s known her since she was a child. He was her imaginary friend. Twice, actually.” She was hesitant to explain further.

Andras crossed his arms. “I know he’s in love with her.”

Shea stared, her mouth agape. “What? Then why are you asking about her if you know? Wait, how do you know?” She looked at him sideways.

“That’s not important. Do you know how she feels about Lorcan?”

Shea took a deep breath. “It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it and find out.”

“What? Just pop down there and ask?” Shea crossed her arms.

“That’s one way,” he muttered. “Why is everyone so indignant today?”

“I just want to know what I’m supposed to do to find out what you want to know.”

“You can see into dreams. See what she’s thinking.”

Shea closed her eyes and sighed. “Wouldn’t that be… a violation, or something?”

“Don’t get caught.”

“Great. I hope they put my cell next to Lorcan’s.” She rolled her eyes and Andras placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I know I’m asking a lot of you. You’re the only one I trust to do this. If she loves him, it could help him.”

Her eyes widened. He trusted her over everyone? His admission shocked her and she nodded without question. “I’ll go.” Andras returned a small smile and headed into the waiting area.

“Now I’ve heard everything,” a male voice said from behind Shea.

Turning, she saw her brother, Remy, leaning against the wall. His auburn hair and bright, blue eyes contrasted with the dark corridor. “It’s rude to listen to people’s conversations,” she said and stuck her tongue out at him.

“You weren’t being that quiet. Besides, I have a right to know. It’s a family matter, after all.” He looked weary behind his cheeky grin.

“How did your talk with the council go?” Shea worried for Remy. Who knew what they might do to him.

He shrugged, still leaning against the wall. “Probation.”

“Probation?” Her brows rose. “That’s it?” She didn’t know if she was surprised or relieved.

“They couldn’t find fault with my actions, but they couldn’t just let me saunter away unscathed.” He rolled his eyes, making Shea think of Fred. They could have been twins, but for a few differences. Remy carried himself with confidence, always seeming comfortable in his own skin, and constantly had sex, while Fred remained ever-the-opposite.

“At least it’s just probation. Do you get a babysitter?” She tried to joke, hoping it might lighten his mood, but he scoffed at the idea.

“I get two. Some paper-pushing rule lover and a really uptight succubus with no sense of humor. She has really great tits, though.”

Shea rolled her eyes. “I’m so glad you can see the silver lining. So, you get babysitters…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What’s Lorcan gonna get?”

Remy sighed. “I’d love to give him a punch to his nuts. Screwing around with his mortal pet and feeding off her.” He scoffed again. “Of all the stupid ideas he’s ever had…” Anger filled his eyes. “He finally goes and thinks with his penis instead of his brain and it causes the fuck up of the century.”

Shea raised her brows. Remy getting angry was rare. He was by far the most laid back of their entire family. Clearly, Remy had his limits. “Well, you’ll probably have to get in line. Once he’s safe, I think the whole family will be lining up to maim him, or give him a piece of their minds.” She thought of her many, many brothers and cringed.

“Except you, right?” His tone had an edge to it.

“What does that mean?” She glared at him, irked by his attitude.

“You always fix his messes. Never get upset at the baby. Lorcan has to be protected.” He gagged.

“Shut up. I’m plenty mad at him. He’s made a mess of everything and it’s affecting everyone! I already gave him a piece of my mind and wrecked that stupid s-”

“Shut up about the ‘s’ word!” Remy stalked forward and clamped his hand over her mouth. “Are you trying to get put into a tiny box with our idiot brother?”

Growling, she shoved his hand away. “No! And stop shushing me! I’m tired of being shushed today!”

“God, you’re just like Dad.” Remy groaned. “Yelling at the top of your damn lungs.”

“At least he’s trying to help. Now, are you going to be useful, or just offer asinine comments?” She was nervous about her task and her brother was starting to irritate her.

“Of course I’ll help. We can have a whole wing dedicated to our family’s incarceration. I’m sure we’ll be allowed conjugal visits. It’ll be great.” He gave her a mocking smile.

“Asshole,” she muttered. “I need to go…” She looked around. “I better tell you privately.”

With her eyes locked on his, Shea whispered into his head,  _‘Father wants me to visit the mortal, uh, Lizzie, and see if she has any feelings for Lorcan. He said it could help.’_

_‘Is this Idiotic Idea Day? You can’t go near her. I bet they’re watching her right now,’_  his sarcastic tone whispered back in her mind.

_‘I asked if you’re going to be useful. This is not being useful!’_ She crossed her arms over her chest.

_‘I’m trying to be the practical one for a change. I thought it would be refreshing.’_

_‘Then give me some practical advice instead of your stupid comments. How can I visit her if they’re watching her?’_

_‘Make them look elsewhere.’_

_‘Elsewhere?’_ Her brow furrowed. _‘Where?’_

_‘I could go visit some nuns.’_ He waggled his eyebrows.

_‘Remy!’_ Another day she might have laughed, but today was not a good day for Remy’s humor.

_‘Fine. How about a little amorous intervention at a PTA meeting?’_

Shea covered her face with her hands.  _‘Are you trying to get your own cell?’_

_‘I said they need to look elsewhere. It needs to be something that will really make them look.’_

_‘By causing an orgy among teachers and soccer moms?’_ She glared, planting her hands on her hips. Remy shrugged, unfazed.

_‘It worked for the Romans.’_

Shea held up her hands as if to strangle him. _‘I hate you so much right now.’_

_‘Fine!’_ He tossed up his arms.  _‘Fine. I’ll get Sasha to go visit one of her regulars. He likes to run. Naked. He can have the urge to work on his marathon and they’ll be busy trying to contain that and you can go do your spy work, Double-O-Bossy.’_

_‘Fine.’_ She sighed. _‘Just don’t let it turn into a riot- And I am not bossy!’_

_‘Okay, Dad.’_ He made a face and she rolled her eyes.

_‘Whatever. Just go get your girlfriend to do her thing. And let me know when it’s safe for me to go.’_

_‘Okay, and she’s not my girlfriend.’_ He winced. _‘I will not be tied down to one pair of breasts.’_

_‘Famous last words.’_ She smiled.

‘ _Take that back!_ ’ Remy flipped her off and disappeared in a column of black smoke.

“You wish,” she said aloud to the air and grinned.

* * *

As soon as Remy had whispered “Go” in her mind, Shea had slipped off to Earth to visit the mortal who had her brother in knots.

Appearing in a small apartment, she looked around, taking in all the details. It was tidy with a few feminine touches like lavender throw pillows, framed photos of flowers, and a small vase of purple flowers. A romance novel rested on an end table with some vanilla scented candles and Shea found the apartment looked cozy and inviting.

Sensing Lizzie in her bedroom, Shea faded into her incorporeal form and floated through the door. She caught Lizzie changing into sweatpants. Lizzie yanked on a pair of socks and kicked her damp towel over to the laundry pile. Even without using her powers Shea felt the lust and confusion radiating off her.

“Oh, Darling, you have it bad, don’t you,” Shea murmured, feeling both amused and sympathetic. “If only my little brother had done a better job of explaining things. Now you’re both a mess.”

She studied this woman who had moved Lorcan to do the unthinkable: Have sex. Shaking her head, Shea’s gaze roamed over Lizzie’s body. “You’re very pretty in a girl next door kind of way. Not that I’m putting it down. It just seems very fitting for baby brother.”

“Fred and his stupid costume and his stupid sex dream,” Lizzie muttered, as she pulled on more clothes, covering her entire body with fabric.

“You’re funny, too. No wonder he’s smitten.” Grinning, Shea took in Lizzie’s gray sweats and feet clad in fuzzy, pink socks. “Trying to ward off, Lorcan? Clothes won’t help, Dear.”

Reaching out with her powers, Shea peeked into Lizzie’s mind. She glimpsed flashes of the dream, felt Lizzie’s desire and pleasure, and her confusion again, but Shea frowned. She sensed something else and sent her magic deeper until it became apparent.

“A fucking soul-bond?” She stared at the mortal woman who had no idea what had actually happened to her. “Lorcan, what in the name of Bacchus have you done now? And with a mortal? It shouldn’t be possible. Father is going to lose his damn mind. Baby brother finally wants to fuck someone and it’s a mortal that he starts to soul-bond with?” Rolling her eyes, Shea heard Lizzie mumbling to herself again.

“How am I supposed to talk to him after that? He’ll probably deny it and say I have cooties,” Lizzie grumbled, folding her arms over her chest. “Ugh.”

“I’m beginning to wonder that myself, Doll.” Shea sighed. “My brother isn’t known for serious conversation. Or for serious anything. I just may have to help him. Again.”

“Why is the best sexual experience I’ve had in years only in my dreams? And with someone who isn’t supposed to be real?” Lizzie groaned, flopping face first on her bed and Shea smirked.

“At least he can do some things right. Better get back before I’m noticed. We’ll talk soon, Lizzie.” Shea vanished from the room with a wave.

* * *

Felicia hurried for Fred’s room when the door swung open, barely missing her. A dark-haired incubus with hair that curled at the ends clambered into the hall, several folders pressed against his chest. Fred’s shouts followed him, filled with colorful obscenities and suggestions before the door shut behind him. The incubus muttered to himself, his agitation a force of nature, but he jumped upon seeing Felicia.

"Sweet coitus!" he cried, nearly dropping his files. "I didn't see you. I- Oh. Oh, you're her!" He laughed with relief and stepped away from the door. “Ah, mercy! I'm so sorry. I'm usually very well organized and punctual. It's just-" He glowered back at the door, haunted. "It's been an evening of trials.”

Clearing his throat, he tucked his chin-length hair behind his ear. "My name’s Emil, the replacement doctor assigned to evaluate Lorcan, the Virgin Shame. I apologize for not getting this report to you sooner,” he said, holding out a folder for Felicia. She quickly took it, but Emil continued before she could speak.

"I was requested last moment, you see, when the client denied an examination to be carried out by a succubus doctor." Emil straightened his remaining files. "Joke's on him, though. I'm gay. Very, very gay," he added, smirking, but quickly resumed his composure. "I'm sorry. That’s not relevant, just helps me get through the day. You didn’t need to know that. Bacchus' buns! I babble when I haven't had my evening tumble and meditation." Emil frowned.

Masking her expression, Felicia wondered if Fred knew that the incubus who had checked him over was into males. She imagined Fred yelling about people leaving his bits alone and bit back a laugh. “Uh, thanks. I would have preferred to be present, but I suppose you needed to speak to him alone.” The doctor was a chatterer and she was glad she missed it.

"Yes, much easier to observe without distractions altering the patient’s behavior. Although, in his case it might have made room for improvement. He’s the testiest incubus I’ve ever met. I’m not convinced it's just the virginity, either.” He smoothed his hair and huffed. Felicia smirked.

“Anyway,” he continued, “I've completed my evaluation of Lorcan, and in my professional and personal opinion, he's not insane, just obnoxious and an utter prude. Though, I did find some unusual and intriguing things about him, which explain his actions tonight... And from a medical perspective I’d love to learn more... If he’d shut up I would have studied him longer, but even science isn’t worth that.” He cleared his throat and Felicia stared at the doctor who was unlike any she had met before him.

It was true Lorcan could be a trial, but this incubus wasn’t exactly easy on the nerves either. “By ‘unusual and intriguing things,’ do you mean the suit? Did it have any adverse reactions? Will it affect him still?” Her mind buzzed with wild thoughts.

“Yes, yes, and yes. Unfortunately for those of us around him,” he muttered. “There appears to be residual effects from the leprechaun magic his suit had. It's repressing his nature, confusing it into an adolescent state. Must be how he went so long without needing to feed in the first place. And over time the magic faded enough that he had to start, at least some.”

Felicia’s mouth opened in shock. Adolescent state? It made so much sense it scared her. The suit he insisted he needed had made him regress. It almost hurt her head thinking it through. Would he start acting more like an incubus than he had been? It would definitely work in their favor...

“Now,” said Emil, “I can’t imagine the leprechaun magic can contain him much longer. It’s fading fast. The lust he took off the mortal is making quick work of it. I give it a day at the most before the suit’s magic is entirely out of his system and he's natural once again." He smiled. “Interesting enough, there’s traces of the other mortals he fed from tonight inside him, yet none of them are what’s depleting the suit’s magic from him. It’s just this…” He paused and looked down at his notes. “This Elizabeth Cronin.”

The doctor’s last bit of information floored her.  _Lizzie is why the suit’s magic is fading?_  She would have kissed Emil if he wasn’t so annoying. He could confirm Fred’s feelings for Lizzie. This stroke of luck gave her a boost of confidence and she allowed herself a small smile. “Thank you. I appreciate your… candor.”

“I assumed you would.” He grinned back. “It’s all so fascinating. Also, I have a theory as to what destroyed the suit’s control over his nature. From my notes, as Lorcan fed in increments over the years, he never received such a potent response. I’d like to believe it was just time, but my findings compared with the previous physician's notes, from checking over the mortal this evening, say otherwise.” His brows went up. “Would you like to hear the juicy tidbits?”

There was more? Her brows rose. If it helped their case, he was giving her a gift. “Please, I’d love to hear it.”

Emil’s eyes nearly danced as he stepped closer to Felicia so no one overheard. “A soul-bonding has begun between them. Interrupted, I think, only because of that magic suit interfering with his powers.”

Felicia stared at Emil. She heard his words in loop in her mind, but her brain couldn’t process them. She frowned at him. “I’m sorry. You said soul-bonding.” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “Between Lorcan and, and Lizzie?” Her voice came out as a squeak on the last word.

“Mmhmm. I did. It’s not complete, and still temporary. Barely present, really, but it’s there enough to cause some effects on them both.” Emil straightened his papers. “Crazy, isn’t it?”

Crazy did not even begin to cover it. “I, um, I- How is this possible? And with him of all lilin? Are you sure?”

“I promise you, I never state things I’m unsure of. It’s bad for my reputation, and I hate taking things back. Can you imagine the time that would take? Exhausting!” He shook his head. “Anyway, they’ve each got a small piece of each other’s soul inside theirs. Lorcan doesn’t even know it’s happened. And I certainly am not gonna tell him. They don’t pay me enough.”

Felicia heard everything he said, but it still took her a moment to think it all over. “I’ve only heard stories of this being possible, and then this crazy, misfit incubus who has sex issues soul-bonds with a mortal woman? I think the Fates are having a laugh right now.” She cast a dubious glance at the ceiling as if they were hiding above her somewhere. “How could he start something he has no knowledge of? You’re sure he doesn’t know?” Felicia imagined him freaking out and she paled. Emil gave a half-hearted laugh.

“Oh, that’s actually simple. I don’t know him and enough of their story, but soul-bonds happen out of love and desire. You know that much. If they long to be together forever, then that’s all it takes. He couldn’t have taken a piece of her if she didn’t let him, and visa versa. So, looks like the stories are real.”

“Soul-bonding is common among our people, but for a lilin and a mortal to experience that is almost unheard of.” She shook her head. No wonder Lorcan had been so on edge. Looking back at Emil, she lowered her voice. “No one knows this information? Just you and me?”

“Only you, me, and Dr. Raven, who examined the mortal. Until I present our findings to the council, that is. I don’t think we need this getting out. It could cause too many problems, especially with the traditionalists.”

“Okay. That’s fine. I have your testimony and hers. If they are partly soul-bonded it has to mean they’re supposed to be together, right?” She started pacing. “I know some of the council frown on lilin and mortal relationships, but if this is Fate ordained they’d have to relent. He’s just trying to be with the person he loves.” A worry snaked into her mind. “Would they try to bury this? They wouldn’t, would they?”

Emil’s mouth hung open in fascination as Felicia spouted off her every thought. He had to admit, he enjoyed watching the process of how other lilin thought, but her questions unnerved him. “They better not! I need this! If they are meant to be, this is the greatest discovery of my career. A leprechaun magic infected lilin that soul-bonds with a mortal! I’ll be set for eternity. They’re not squashing my findings.” He shook his fist. “I don’t know if it’s Fate, but the evidence points to it. I mean, the mortal’s not insane yet.”

Felicia blinked, surprised by his zeal for his work, but at least he was with her on this, even if their motivations weren’t the same. “Excellent point. We can’t let this be swept under the rug. I’d like you to keep this to yourself until the trial so you can announce it in front of everyone present.”

“Done. My Dear, you know just how I love to work.” He grinned and stood taller, clutching his folders closer to himself.

“I, uh, don’t actually know, but I’ll take your word for it.” She grinned.

“Just keep Lorcan quiet for my moment.”

Felicia sighed. “You’ve met him. I can’t guarantee silence from him, but I’ll do my best to let you have your moment.”

“Thank you, and bless that poor mortal’s soul if they ever complete that bond.” He looked upward for strength. “Which reminds me, there’s another thing I must address,” he said, meeting Felicia’s gaze. “I would recommend keeping Lorcan’s powers restricted for now. With the soul-bonding started, he’s got an impulsive need to return and complete it, even without knowing it’s there. Interrupting soul-bonds for anyone is a jarring thing. He exhibits all the signs. Anxiety, increased libido, agitation, and sensing her around him.”

“Keep Lorcan restricted? By sedating him?” she mumbled. “I suppose I’ll have to have another succubus on hand just in case. Speaking of, I should go check on him. Thank you so much for your report, Doctor. It’s been… enlightening.”

"You’re welcome, and thank you. However, I do have one further recommendation." Emil glared at the door again. “With the suit’s magic depleting, Lorcan will soon function like an adult incubus. He’s not going to last much longer as a virgin. He’ll need to have sex for his sanity and health. These nightly feedings won’t remain enough without that. Maybe a few weeks more at most.”

“Don’t let Lila or Lorcan hear that,” she muttered. “This is a nightmare. I hope we can get this resolved quickly. Thank you for the advice.”

Emil nodded. “Lila? Oh. Yes, I’ve heard of  _her_.” He cleared his throat, eyeing the door again. “Anyway, back to Lorcan… If the council wants any chance of that incubus losing his virginity they ought to render him mute! With that mouth of his I don't see how any woman, succubus, or male would fuck him. I stake my reputation and my degree on it!" He tucked his hair back behind his ear. “I’m sorry. I’m also not usually this heated. He just… has a way of getting under your skin.”

“Oh, I know he does. If being irritating was an actual incubus talent he would be the best there is.” She smiled at Emil’s constant glares at the door. “I do appreciate your time. Perhaps we could discuss this case after the trial is over?”

“Always willing to share my thoughts and notes with another professional. Just name the time.” He looked again at his notes. “I just know I’m on the verge of some new discoveries if I can only manage some more time with him. If only they allowed us to gag a patient I might have lasted longer.” He laughed, but it fizzled fast. “Don’t tell anyone I said that. Some don’t have the sense of humor, or- I should go and prepare my testimony for the trial. Good luck and-” Emil glanced at the door. “Hercules’ dewy abs, give us strength with this one! A human-lilin soul-bonding!”

“I’ll let you know when things calm down.” She laughed. “Having spent some time with Lorcan I understand the urge to gag him. Your secret is safe with me.” She winked. “In his defense, he’s actually quite agreeable once you get his snark out of the way. Thank you. I’ll take all the luck I can get.”

“Of course. It’s been a pleasure.” Emil nodded, but raised a finger. “Wait. One last thing. Sorry, I keep saying that. I actually have a request of you. If you could tell Lorcan to please get that sample for me by tomorrow evening, that’d be great. It’s very important for my research.”

“Sample? He agreed to that?” Felicia couldn’t imagine Fred agreeing to anything.

“No, but he likes you. I assume you could persuade him. For science.”

Her brows rose at this suggestion. “We get along, but asking him for a sample is a little personal, isn’t it?”

Emil stared at her, perplexed. “I’m a doctor.”

She stared back. “I’m not.”

“Fine. Fair enough. Tell him I’ll see him soon.” With a grin, Emil turned and headed down the hall with Felicia shaking her head.

_That incubus is a strange one_ , she thought, entering the room and finding Lorcan wedged in the corner like a feral cat. He wielded a chair and tried to hide behind it at the same time.

“Oh thank  _god_  it’s just you!” he cried.

“Uh, are you alright? Why are you in the corner?” she asked, shutting the door.

“Do you know what I’ve been through?! That witch doctor wanted me to wank into a cup! For science! So he could run tests on it!” Fred flung his arms upward. “He wanted my- my...  _samples_  f-for research!”

Felicia pursed her lips to keep from laughing. Clearly he was experiencing his latent adolescence. “He is not a witch doctor. He’s just very enthusiastic about his work.”

“Enthu- He wants to study about the long-term effects of leprechaun magic on lilin using my, my…  _special sauce_ ,” Fred whispered, his face contorting like he were having an attack. “He’s a licensed perv! As my lawyer you’ve gotta protect me! That bastard! That utter, utter guttersnipe!” Fred tensed and pulled the chair closer against himself.

Placing a hand to her chest, Felicia widened her eyes. “You didn’t want to jerk off and hand over a sample for his breakthrough in lilin research? I’m so disappointed. You could be famous in Lullabi instead of infamous.” She grinned and Fred’s jaw dropped.

“No!” he shouted. “I will not wank for fame, thank you!”  _Just make it stop,_ he begged the universe. To add insult to injury, he did want another release and it pissed him off. “And, hey, I thought you were on my side? I swear if one more person asks me to do anything nasty, science or not, I’m gonna lose it!” He tugged his chair even closer and pressed into the wall. He considered grabbing the table and barricading himself into his corner, too. Perhaps he could wait them all out.

Shaking her head, Felicia took a seat in the other chair. “There are worse ways to make a living.” She rested her chin on her palm, leaning on the table as she grinned at him. “It’s not like you need to become a fountain in the foyer of the Office of Lilin Affairs. Besides, I thought you were getting used to everyone seeing your pasty, naked ass.” She laughed. “What’s a few more people? Besides, it’s for science.” She said the last word with reverence.

Fred's mouth twitched at her casual, yet amused attitude about the subject. “Yes, well, I've already been a fountain tonight…”

She leaned forward and grinned wider. “I know. I read the report.”

“What?! Report? They have  _that_  in the report?” He choked, eyes widening as he wondered if a lilin could have a heart attack under extreme circumstances, but an even worse thought bombarded him. “Oh no. You, you didn't see it, did you?!” he squeaked, shrinking back.

Felicia let him sweat it out, figuring it would make them even. “Well, you know… the Office of Lilin Affairs is very thorough.” She enunciated the last two words and beamed at him.

“I, I can't feel my face.” Fred patted his cheeks, staring ahead. “Am I still standing?”

Shaking with silent laughter, Felicia released a giggle. “You’re priceless. No, I did not witness you making your special sauce.” She tapped a finger against her chin. “To be fair to you, one of the Lilin Affairs employees might have seen something. Standard procedure. No big deal.”

Fred gaped. He thought a sound came out, but he wasn't sure. The world felt so far away and he just blinked, his mind replaying his moments of ecstasy with Lizzie in a new light. “No big deal? They… You mean? Oh, fuck.” He grabbed his head. “Right. It's official. I have to move to another dimension. Again. Immediately.”

“Oh, stop. Prude Lorcan is boring. I mean some of your reactions are entertaining, but you blushing and stuttering every time you remember that you’re naked, or when I say words like ‘penis’ makes my job go slower.” She tilted her head and studied his face. “Besides, this is Lullabi. They probably were cheering you on. Sex is sex. I am sure you did nothing they haven’t seen before. Repeatedly.”

“That’s not the point!” he cried, clenching his fists. “And I am not boring! I just want some clothes and for perverts to stop lookin’ at- Oh god!” He gasped, clutching his chest. “I can’t breathe. This is it! I’m dying!”

Felicia didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh or cry. His resistance was a problem of astronomical proportions and she sighed. “Having a fit of the vapors, Dear? I swear, if you were a little, old lady you’d be clutching your pearls and screaming for your smelling salts. And you’re not dying.”

Dropping his hands, Fred stomped. “I am not an old woman! And I can die if I want to! I wish I was! You’d all have to honor my last wishes and I’d get some trousers in the end and some bloody sympathy.”

She snorted. “Could have fooled me. I bet you would have been a little, old, Victorian woman in another life. And if we had such things as funerals, I’d make sure you were laid out for your wake buck ass naked.”

Pursing his lips, Fred pointed at her ready to speak, but he was so upset he couldn’t talk for several seconds. “I’m not a girl! And stop talking about me getting laid.’” He stuck out his tongue.

“I’m sorry. Too much for your maiden ears to hear? I really should remember I’m in the presence of a very dignified seventy-year-old woman.” She smiled.

“Dignified? You call this dignified? I’m practically wearin’ this chair to hide my knob! It’s cold!” His blush returned full force, but he finally caught the amused expression on Felicia’s face. “Have you had your fill yet on teasing me?”

Her shoulders shook with laughter.  _It’s too easy to tease him._  “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “It’s just something about you. You’re like a strange mix of innocence and jadedness. I can’t help myself.” She wiped at the tears in her eyes. “You’re making me cry for all the wrong reasons. Or is it good? I guess it’s better than making me cry for the usual reasons a male might make a female cry.”

“Oh, ha, ha!” He rolled his eyes, but cracked a smile. “That’s what I’m good at. Making females laugh and cry, but don’t go all girl on me now. I’ve got nothing to dry the tears with because obviously I left my handkerchief back in my last life.”

Felicia smiled and leaned back in her seat. “I’m sure it was a lovely embroidered one.” She winked. “You know, you really are one of the girls, or you’re getting comfortable being back home, because you have no problem talking to me while I sit here like this.” She waved a hand in front of her bare breasts. “Maybe that suit magic is finally wearing off. Thank Bacchus.”

“Ugh! Don’t point those at me like that! And I’m  _not_  comfortable! I’ve just gone blind, is all!” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve seen so many tits since I’ve gotten here I’ve blacked out to survive. And nothing’s wearing off.”  _What did that doctor tell her?_  he wondered, worry invading his mind.

“I think you are comfortable, and you’re freaking out over it. You were able to talk with me for quite awhile and you didn’t notice. There’s nothing wrong with being comfortable with who you are.” She smiled at him, even though he refused to look at her. “Lorcan, just look at me. In the eyes, but look at me.”

“Ha! I don’t freak out over anything. I’m Drop Dead Fred,” he said, but his voice was quiet, lacking his usual bravado. He couldn’t be comfortable like this, he couldn’t go full incubus like he’d always feared. No, he would ignore it and eventually it would stop and he’d come back to his senses. He wouldn’t let this be him. “And I know a trap when I see one,” he said, tapping his fingers against his arms. “Carry on, but my eyes are stayin’ where they are.”

“How can you see anything when all you can see is the floor?” She shifted in her chair, crossing her legs. “Aren’t you tired of running? I’d be exhausted if I ran away from my home, my family, and who I am for three hundred years. Why are you holding onto this fantasy?”

“Because it’s not a fantasy. It’s my life, thank you,” he said, glancing at Felicia. “There’s other things that I want, and this isn’t it.” Turning his attention back to the floor, Fred stilled. He suddenly felt her again. Lizzie’s presence had picked a fine time to return and he struggled not to show it.  _If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she’s trying to tip me over the edge._  Wearily, he looked up at Felicia.

“Um... you, you mentioned before that I could ask you anything if I needed. Um… could I- Can I ask you something right now?”

Felicia’s brows rose, but she smiled. “Of course. Ask away.”

The crimson on Fred’s face deepened. “Is it, uh, normal for after… what I did with Lizzie…” He shut his eyes and tried focusing on his question instead of everything swirling inside him. “Is it normal to still  _feel_  it? Her desire, what I took, it keeps coming back at random in these waves. I can actually feel it wanting me.”  _And it’s getting bloody annoying when I can’t satisfy it_ , he thought. Gritting his teeth, he put his hands over his face. “It’s like, I swear it’s not just me I feel; it’s  _her_ , somehow, and I don’t understand why she’s still with me like this.” His voice held a plea and he dropped his hands, staring up at Felicia. “Please, tell me it’s gonna go away before I give a salute to the whole council?”

Staring at him, Felicia remained still. He had been bound to ask and she had partly dreaded it, unsure of what to tell him without telling him everything. He wasn’t ready for the full explanation.

Realizing she still stared, Felicia blinked and composed herself. “Sorry, I didn’t expect that.”  _So soon_ , she thought. Clearing her throat, she tried to think of the right words. “It is normal. Especially in your case.”

“My case?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll do my best to explain. Let’s see…” Felicia stretched out the vowel as she thought it over. “Okay, we’re sexual beings. It is who we are and what we do. Physical reactions, feelings, anything related to sex, we are going to experience that a thousand times stronger than any other beings. We can connect with each other and mortals, and feel what they feel, and we can change it, too. That doesn’t always have to be sexual, but nine times out of ten it is.”

“I didn’t think our connection could be anything beyond sexual that way with a mortal. Just between lilin, like my mum and dad have?” he asked.

“We’re sexual beings, but we have feelings, too. Our job is about feelings. We need to know what brings pleasure and pain, hope and fear, or we can’t do our job. Lilin experience things so much more because we’re connected to everyone. Relationships just make more sense between lilin.”

Fred frowned, not liking her last remark. “But there can be something between a human and… someone like me?” he asked, looking at Felicia with hope.

“It’s not unheard of, but it’s not exactly common,” she said, frowning with him. She wanted him to hope, but not be misled. “When you also have a connection to someone on a deeper level then it makes the feelings even stronger than normal. If you love someone it’s like sharing a body. One breath, one heartbeat, one soul. It is terrifying and thrilling and everything you could ever want. So, yes, you have this deep connection with Lizzie, and it’s like being tethered to her, and you can feel her no matter how far apart you are. Whether it can be more, I don’t know. I’m hoping it’ll work out.” She gave him a half-grin. “I hope that explains the connection. As to the side effects... you just need to learn to control it. You can temper your desire, you just need to concentrate.”

Fred’s eyes widened as he took everything in that Felicia said. He was tethered to Lizzie like they were one soul and body? The idea made him ache to have just that, to love her and feel it returned from her very core. It was everything he wanted, and yet the most frightening idea he’d ever heard because if he lost her, if she didn’t want him when she had become a part of him, it would kill him.

“So, you’re saying what I did and feel’s just made my entire original problem  _worse?_ ” He groaned and held his head, feeling his connection to Lizzie tug at his soul. “I thought I just took too much from her, or something… I didn’t realize- Why didn’t anyone tell me this happens with just love? Soul-bondings must be so much more annoying. I can’t imagine.”

At the mention of soul-bonding Felicia tensed. If only he knew, he would lose his damn mind. Again. “Indeed,” she said.

“I had no clue and-” Fred gasped. “Oh fuck! Are you saying what I’m feeling really is  _her_? Is this what she feels right now? For me? How the hell am I supposed to concentrate now that I know that?! And what if it’s all just because of my magic she feel this?”

As he started to have a meltdown over Lizzie’s alleged feelings, Felicia sighed and held out her hands. “Wait, wait. Seriously, you go from calm to drama in one second flat. Before you get crazy, I don’t know how your imaginary friend link fits in. You’ve always had a strong connection. You could feel her and know if she needed you, right?” He stilled and nodded at her, making Felicia sigh.

“I did not study this area,” she admitted. “It’s a little fuzzy. You’re the expert in this room and you should have paid more attention when they talked about lilin and human relations in your classes. I’m pretty sure she can’t feel anything. She’s a mortal, not a lilin. Look, I’m not saying she’s not in love with you, but I’m not saying she is.” She frowned. “I think I just hurt my head with that statement. What can you feel?”

“My first headache with the way this night’s been going,” he muttered. Focusing on the connection, Fred realized Lizzie was awake and in a very heated state. His eyes widened at the sexual frustration coursing through her and straight into him. His body shivered, reacting with its new and endless need to be near her, but a swirl of Lizzie’s other emotions spared him before it got out of hand.

“She’s… confused and… very pissed. To say the least.” He winced. “Annoyed, too, and well, bet you can guess the last bit.” He reddened and tapped the table, his brow furrowed. “There’s something else about the link, though. It’s different, somehow,” he said, finding it almost felt like he was in two places at once. “That's really all I got,” he said with clear disappointment on his face.

Sucking in a breath between her teeth, Felicia grimaced. “Ooh, that’s bad. Never leave a lady unsatisfied. You will never hear the end of it.” She shook her head. “You are going to have to do some groveling. Maybe buy her a puppy. If you don’t fix it you will never be forgiven. My wife does passive aggressive like no one else. She wouldn’t speak to me for a week. Trust me, Lorcan. Grovel. Grovel like your life depends on it.”

“What? Just- But, but if I had satisfied her she’d be even madder! I mean, completely satisfied! Because- Ugh!” Fred tossed his hands up. “Women are more confusing than leprechauns. How can this make any sense?” Fred pulled at his hair. “I can't win.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense. Just listen to me and you will make it out of this alive!” Felicia ran her hands over her face. “I need a vacation after this.” She looked back at Fred. “Sorry, I got carried away.” She cleared her throat.

“And I think I need protection from more than just that doctor…”

“Not if you take my advice….” Their eyes met and Felicia took it as a good sign. “It makes sense that Lizzie would be all those things you feel. Mad definitely makes sense. You got her all revved up and then didn’t finish, so there’s that, and then the fact that it’s you and she hasn’t processed that yet has probably freaked her out a bit. The connection is promising, though. We’ll take it as a good sign.” She offered him a wide smile.

_I really am the worst incubus,_  he thought, forcing a smile back at Felicia. He suddenly felt even guiltier than before about what he’d done in her dream. “It’s got to mean something, I suppose.” Fred paused, feeling another wave of Lizzie's ire and sexual frustration wash through him. “Kinda glad I’m two dimensions away right now… Snotface needs a cold shower,” he whispered, his mouth going dry. “Um.” He cleared his throat and tapped the table in an effort to ignore the rush of heat through his body. “So, grovel, and give her puppies and orgasms. Right. I’m gonna end up the first incubus to become a eunuch.”

“It’s probably for the best that you’re here where she can’t reach you. I’d want to throttle you if I was her.” When he winced, she smiled. “She won’t be mad forever. If she’s really into you she’s not going to want to make you a eunuch. Kinda defeats the purpose.” She winked, making him blanch. “So, stop beating yourself up over this. You can fix this. I say my wife was mad, but after we talked we made up, and then we  _made up_. Haven’t you heard that make up sex is the best kind of sex? Well, I don’t know if that is unequivocally true, but it’s fun to try.” She offered him a small smile. “Hey, they may take away your imaginary friend badge, but no one is taking your penis or your balls on my watch.”

Fred stared in shock. “Thanks… and I’ll, uh, take your word on the sex,” he said, clearing his throat. “And glad to have you watching my bits and all.” He smiled, but it died as soon as he realized what he’d said. “I mean- Fuck.” He shut his eyes.

Laughing in silence, she winked at him. “Always happy to help a client out.”

_Time for a change of subject._ Fred opened his eyes, thankful she hadn’t pointed out his poor word choice. “So, um, I heard my father. When you were gone.” He frowned. “He sounds pretty pissed. Loud, too.”

“Yes, I think they heard him five dimensions away. I’m beginning to think loudness runs in your family.” She rolled her eyes. “He wanted an update and I explained the situation to him.” She paused. “So, he knows about you and Lizzie, and he’s only pissed off because he’s worried. For you.”  _I hope Andras’ not going to be pissed at me for saying that._

Blinking, Fred tried applying worry about him with his father. “That’s-” His voice wavered. “That’s not true. He’s made it clear how he feels about me. You’re… You must’ve been mistaken.” He tried to stop it, but he felt his face twist with grief long enough to betray him. “He’s only worried how hard this is all gonna be to clean up…”

Felicia’s heart twisted at the expression on his face. “I know you don’t have an easy relationship with him, but he’s not without feeling. Has he actually told you in words how he feels, or are you assuming all his yelling means he hates you and wishes you didn’t exist? Believe me. I have been on the receiving end of his wrath. It’s not pretty, but yelling is different than actually saying what he thinks.” She willed him to believe. “He yells because he cares. Strange way of showing it, believe me, but that’s his way. He… he feels like he failed you.”

“Failed… me?” he asked, the words like trying to process a foreign language. He’d imagined for centuries that his father might come crawling after him, apologize, and tell him he’d been wrong about everything, but hearing this felt unnatural. Wrong and yet nice. He squirmed, stung by the hope he felt inside.

“He failed… me?” he asked, pointing at himself. Fred laughed to fight his pain. He didn’t want to hear this because it couldn’t be true. “Yelling’s how he cares? Well, what’s it mean then when he stops yelling? When you never hear from him and he never tries to bother for nearly two centuries?” His gaze cast to the wall where he’d heard his father’s voice booming through. Was he still there?

“You are definitely your father’s son. You’re both the same.” She waved her hands, gesturing at him and the wall. “You think the other hates you and doesn’t want to talk, but deep down both of you do. I read about you. You took off and barely ever returned to Lullabi. How can anyone try to reach you and talk if you kept yourself away for years?”

“He knows where Earth is.” He shrugged. “And how can you say that? I’m not at all like him. Why does everyone always say that?” He tossed his head back and loudly groaned. “The last time I saw him, he told me that if I kept that suit I might as well not come back! Those were his exact words! The bastard disowned me and in almost a hundred and sixty years I’ve not heard one peep from him! But I’m sure his guilt must be eating him up because what’s a century or two!” Flinging his hands up, Fred knocked the chair away. “I’ve been on my own and I’ve been fine and I don’t need him anymore.” He paced, scowling at the wall.

Felicia sighed. “He makes the same exact face.” Fred’s expression cleared in defiance. “You’re more alike than you want to admit,” she added.

“Stop saying that!”

“This is more than just your father being mad at you. It’s everyone in Lullabi telling you you’re a square peg who should be a round one. I’m not a counselor, I’m just a lawyer, but I know when people are running from something. Just because the people who care about you haven’t run after you to make you feel better about the choices you’ve made doesn’t mean they don’t still care. Would you have even listened if they had tried? I don’t think old you was ready for anything they had to say. Besides, they stayed here and dealt with all the mess you left in your wake.” She watched him prowl around like a caged animal. He needed to hear everything and it might as well be from her.

“Mess? What mess? I got clothes, I didn’t poo all over the streets here!”

“Yes, I see why your attitude made them all come running after you.” She rolled her eyes. “Did you know your brothers, your mother and father, even Shea took heat for what you did? They were all investigated. Your brothers almost lost their jobs and some in Lullabi shunned them altogether. So, maybe, just maybe, you need to see that things have been hard for them, too. Maybe one day you’ll realize you do have a family that loves you. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”

Fred’s shoulders slouched and he stilled. He hadn’t known about any of that. None of them had ever told him. “Shea… and all of them… went through all that over me?” His jaw tightened.  _Piss… Now I feel like too big of an ass to keep shouting._

“Your father did damage control and they demoted him, but he managed to smooth most of it over. He even called in a few favors so you got your imaginary friend job. That didn’t go over so well with a few members of the council. I heard that meeting was intense. So, yes, there was chaos left behind after you made your grand exit.” She smiled. “I see it’s like your trademark.”

“Wait, my father got me my job?” His eyes widened, but a knock at the door cut into their conversation.

“Yes?” Felicia called as the door opened door and a blonde incubus leaned into the room. “Are they ready for us?” He only nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “We’ll be right out.” The incubus nodded again and ducked away, closing the door behind him. Smiling, Felicia looked back at Fred. “Show time.”

“What if I’ve got a sudden case of stage fright at this juncture?” he asked, taking a step away from the door. Felicia crossed her arms over her chest and grinned.

“Drop Dead Fred getting a case of stage fright? Say it ain’t so!”

“I know it’s awful, isn’t it? Must be regressing to my bashful, old Victorian ways.” A smile flashed across his face. “Hey. You called me by my name… Thanks.”

“Don’t faint on me,” she said, laughing. “You’re welcome. I think you can use a little, and I stress a little, of Drop Dead Fred in there. Ready to go into the hydra’s den?”

“You’re right. They couldn’t handle me at full Fred. Though, it’d be fun to see that…” He smirked.

“I don’t know if I could!” She laughed.

“Baby steps. Can’t wear you out on the first day.” He winked, but his cheery demeanor dimmed as he looked at the door. Fred realized for the first time in his life he felt out of control in a way that scared him. Soon the council might take away everything he had and loved; everything about himself. Once his trial ended, he wouldn’t be Drop Dead Fred anymore, and he wouldn’t know who he was either. “Hopefully this can’t get any worse… That’s what you’re here for, right?”

Felicia looked at him, feeling his worry roll off him in waves. “Hey, we’re in this together. They are in for the trial of their lives.” She grinned. “I know I may be asking a lot, but can you answer their questions as quickly and concisely as possible? Just stick to the facts and not your oh-so-colorful way of phrasing things, if you can.”

“I’ll try, but if those leprechauns start something, no promises.” He grinned.

“Bacchus, help me. They better be on their best behavior, or I might raise hell with them.” She glared toward the door. “But, thank you, and remember, like them or not, those lilin have your life in their hands and all our butts are on the line with you. Let’s go.” She gathered her papers and opened the door. “Ladies first.” She waved her hand and winked, inciting Fred to stick out his tongue.

“Suit yourself, but with me it’s better to stand upwind,” he said, walking through the doorway and wishing the universe would open and swallow him before he reached the courtroom.

“Um, good to know.” Felicia wrinkled her nose as she hurried to pace him.


End file.
